Matters of the Heart
by CurvyPragmatist
Summary: When Miranda doesn't turn up for work one morning it falls to Andy to go and see what is wrong.
1. Chapter 1

The run-through was scheduled for 8:30am, sharp, not that anything about the Runway schedule was ever not sharp. Miranda seemingly enjoyed toying with her employees, running on her own version Sandringham Time, Miranda Time maybe? However, where Sandringham Time was clearly thirty minutes more than the actual time, to allow time for hunting during the reign of Edward VII, Miranda Time was more of a flowing and ever-changing concept. Some days Miranda Time meant fifteen minutes earlier than scheduled, sometimes it meant thirty minutes. One constant with Miranda Time was that it was always before the allotted time and never after; as Miranda wouldn't accept tardiness. Miranda Time was solely to keep her employees on their toes and it worked if the packed meeting room on the twenty-third floor of the Elias Clarke building was anything to go by.

Nigel glanced at each of his terrified colleagues, taking in the perspiring top lip and the trembling of hands. Half past eight was rapidly approaching and each of them awaited the arrival of the tornado of wrath that was no doubt winging its way to the meeting room. He took another deep breath and look at his watch, Miranda liked to make them stew that much was certain but this was strange, even for her. She would be well aware that her entire production management team would have been sat in the meeting room since eight o'clock and as much as Miranda wanted them to suffer the agonising wait of her arrival she wouldn't want to waste so much time that could be spent working.

He looked out of the glass-walled meeting room into the eyes of a confused Andy Sachs who was standing in the corridor outside. He raised a questioning eyebrow at the young brunette and Andy shrugged her shoulders in response. He again looked at his watch, 8:31.

"OK people let me just see if we're in the wrong room or the wrong building or the wrong planet or something," he muttered as he stood up and walked out of the meeting room to join Andy outside.

As he left the meeting room Emily came speeding up to Andy and cried, "nothing!"

"What's going on?" Nigel asked the young two women as he registered the surprise, shock and confusion awash over their features.

"We've lost Miranda," Emily huffed dramatically.

Nigel didn't even bother trying to hide his smile, "you've _lost_ Miranda?"

Emily was about to reply when her mobile phone started to ring, she peered at the screen and answered, "about time! This is an emergency you know!"

Andy shook her head and took Nigel's arm and led him away from the British woman's flailing arms and raised voice, "it's weird, Nigel, the car took her to the NYPD benefit last night she stayed for fifteen minutes and then the car took her home. This morning the car arrived at the normal time and nothing. She didn't come out and neither did the girls. Roy rang Emily and Emily eventually rung Miranda on her mobile and on the house phone but no response. We've left messages and we can't get hold of her."

Nigel thought about this for a few moments, "did Roy knock on the door?"

Andy folded her arms and gave Nigel a pointed look.

"Silly question," Nigel replied, "so, is he still sat there?"

Andy nodded her head and started to speak again when Emily stalked over, "how long does someone have to be missing for before we can call the police?"

"Twenty-four hours," Andy replied.

"Twenty-four HOURS?!" Emily cried, "Miranda won't wait that long!"

"We're not calling the police," Nigel interjected, "someone needs to go to the house and see what's what. Knowing Miranda she's taken the girls on holiday and forgotten to mention anything."

Emily nodded as she caught on to Nigel's trail of thought and a distant memory came to the forefront, "this is like the time when she went to Hawaii..."

Nigel nodded, "exactly."

Emily thought on, "but she did leave me a post-it note that time. And she still called me in the morning to check the Donna Karen swatches had arrived."

Nigel nodded, "yes, but the point I am trying to make is that this is Miranda, we can't treat her like an ordinary person."

Andy unsuccessfully swallowed a giggle at that statement and soon found herself the sole attention of Nigel and Emily's twin glares, "erm, should I call Roy and tell him to knock?"

Emily shook her head, "no, Miranda wouldn't want Roy in the townhouse, he's only the chauffeur!"

"And I'm sure Roy wouldn't want to enter the devil's lair either," Nigel added.

Emily nodded in agreement, "exactly! No, it will have to be you, Andy," she said with a sigh.

"ME?!" Andy cried, "why on earth does it have to be me?!"

"Obviously I have to hold down the fort here," Emily replied with a smirk, "I have to reorganise the schedule, put off Irv, move lunch with Donnatella... and Miranda has been asking you to drop off The Book, you're obviously her favourite!"

Emily hurried off back to the office before Andy had a chance to say anything else. She looked at Nigel for support but he just patted her on the shoulder and walked back into the meeting room.

"I don't see what's wrong with asking Roy!" she called unsuccessfully after both retreating figures.

Andy sat in the backup town car dreaming up every kind of possibility for why Miranda hadn't turned up for work that morning. Everything from sudden death to kidnapping to spontaneous combustion and even alien abduction which Andy quickly wrote off as utterly ridiculous, aliens would never be able to cope with a Miranda Priestly tantrum and would have returned her immediately.

The car pulled up behind Roy's car outside the townhouse and Andy told the driver to go back to Runway before shakily getting out and walking towards the first town car and getting in the passenger seat.

"Please tell me you've heard or seen something?" Andy asked Roy as she stared at the door to the townhouse as if it were some kind of monster.

"I'm afraid not, nothing at all," Roy said with a grim face.

"Right. Well, it's down to me then," Andy took a deep breath before turning back to Roy, "rock, paper, scissors you for it?"

Roy laughed, "you're the assistant, I'm just the driver."

Andy nodded and sighed, "yes, you're right, I'm going in!"

Andy stepped out of the town car and closed the door behind her before rummaging in her bag for the key to the townhouse. Finally finding the key she looked up and started to climb the stairs to the front door. She unsteadily put the key in the lock and opened the door, she poked her head around the door to see if she could see anything out of place or untoward. A quick scan of the hallway indicated that everything was exactly how it always was and she took a step inside and closed the door behind her.

"Miranda?" she whispered in the direction of the downstairs study, the only room she had ever been in since working for Miranda. She held her breath and listened for a few moments but there was no sound at all. She tried again, a little louder this time, "Miranda?" Again there was no sound from anywhere in the house.

Andy put her bag on the floor by the downstairs closet and tried to walk quietly in her three-inch heels towards the study, she poked her head around the corner and glanced around the room. No sign of burglars, murderers, aliens or, most terrifyingly, Miranda. The book lay open on the desktop a silver fountain pen next to it indicating that Miranda had indeed been working on the book last night.

Taking a deep breath Andy started to search the downstairs of the house for any sign of the Priestly family but she came across nothing at all. Eventually she found herself back in the hallway and looking at the staircase leading to the upper floors, she hesitantly started to ascend the stairs towards the first floor towards the main sitting room and the girls' den. A quick look around the first floor of the townhouse also proved fruitless and Andy sighed as she realised that she was going to have to do the thing she really didn't want to do the most, go to the second and third floors where the bedrooms were located. Since that first fateful day when Andy was conned by the girls to come up the stairs away from the guest areas and into Chez Priestly she had been terrified of making another mistake like that. She had promised herself to never ever evade Miranda's privacy again, to only keep to the hallway and the downstairs study when she was specifically called in. And now she found herself climbing another set of stairs and heading up to the second floor.

Halfway up the stairs she retrieved her phone from her pocket to check for missed calls, hoping beyond hope that Emily had called to say that all was well and Miranda was in the office creating hell.

"Mom?" a small voice called out and scared Andy half to death, she looked up to see one of the bedroom doors was open and a small redhead clad in pink pyjamas and holding a giant stuffed rabbit stood in the doorway sleepily rubbing her eyes and staring in confusion at Andy coming up the stairs.

"Hey Honey," Andy said with a bright smile as she approached the young girl, she glanced at the door and noted the door plaque with Caroline's name on it, "it's Andy, do you remember me?"

Caroline nodded slowly and looked confused, "where's Mom?"

Andy's forced smile wavered for a second, "I don't know, Caroline, that's why I'm here. I think your Mom overslept or something..."

If Caroline didn't believe Andy's excuse she didn't show it as she padded across the hall and opened her sister's door, "Cass, have you seen Mom this morning?"

A sleepy and muffled voice replied, "no."

Caroline turned back to face Andy, "Mom always wakes us early and makes us breakfast."

Andy tried not to show her surprise at the domestic image that floated through her head of Miranda actually making breakfast for her twins every morning. Cassidy appeared beside her twin sister in matching pink pyjamas and all three of them looked up the stairs to the third and final floor of the townhouse.

"I'm sure everything is fine," Andy said in what she hoped was a convincingly light tone, she was surprised at how a maternal need to protect the girls from any bad news immediately gripped her and all her fear about invading Miranda's privacy and whatever she may find in Miranda's bedroom vanished as she confidently walked up the stairs to the top floor of the house. She was pleased and relieved that the girls seemed to be unconcerned by the events and passed her on the stairs and walked straight up to their mother's bedroom door and opened it.

Andy briefly debated whether or not she should have entered first in case there was something horrific inside but she found herself rooted to the spot with fear, it wasn't until she heard one of the girls speak that she finally began to relax "morning Mom!"

Now the fear that Miranda was dead had left her it was replaced with the fear of the cold fury of Miranda finding Andy outside her bedroom. Andy took a deep breath and knocked softly on the door before stepping into the room. The bed was unmade and Miranda was sat in an armchair to the side of the room staring outside at the small gardened area out the back of the house. The girls crowded around Miranda and gave her a hug, oblivious to the paler than usual complexion of their mother. Once the girls drew back from their hug Miranda looked towards the bedroom door and noted Andy without so much as a blink of surprise.

Andy lifted her hand and gave a half wave and a warm smile as she took a couple of tentative steps into the room, "hi, erm, I, well, we…"

"Andrea," Miranda interrupted, "I don't see why it took you so long to get here, I must have called you hours ago," Miranda interrupted Andy's stuttering and stared at her effectively conveying a message to the young brunette.

Andy picked up on the unwritten code immediately, "yes, I'm sorry, Miranda," she replied before turning her attention to the twins, "right you two, go and get washed and dressed and I'll be downstairs in a few minutes to make you some breakfast."

After a moment of hesitation the girls filed out of the room seemingly none too concerned as far as Andy could see. She surmised that they were used to quickly changing schedules and knew better than to question Miranda about it. Once the sound of heavy footsteps had thundered into the distance and joint bedroom doors had slammed Andy gently closed the bedroom door and walked towards Miranda with a questioning look, "erm, is everything all right?"

Miranda sighed softly and gently turned to look back out of the window, "I'm... a little under the weather," she replied as she waved her hand nonchalantly, "I shall rally shortly."

Andy wasn't about to buy any of it, Miranda looked paler than normal and she was holding herself very straight as if in a great deal of hidden pain and her breathing seemed shallow.

"Why didn't you call?" Andy bravely called Miranda out on her lie.

Miranda appeared flustered for a second before quickly recovering and sighing, much less dramatically than usual, "must I constantly do everything? I wasn't there. Why would I call to tell you that I wasn't there? Surely you noticed, or you wouldn't have come. Honestly, Andrea…"

Andy perched herself on the edge of Miranda's bed and folded her arms. With a curious look she cocked her head to one side and looked at Miranda's form before gesturing the mobile phone on the dress across the other side of the room, "call Emily now. She forgot the scarves you requested yesterday. Call her now and tell her she's useless."

Miranda raised her eyebrow in frustration and looked over at the mobile phone. She looked back at Andy and fixed her with an intent stare, not wishing to be beaten by the young brunette. Her hands gripped the arms of the chair she sat in and she steeled herself to stand up and cross the room. As she shuffled towards the edge of her seat a pained expression crossed her face and she instead concentrated all of her efforts on sitting as still as possible.

Andy immediately slid from the bed and onto her knees in front of Miranda and delicately placed her hand over Miranda's clenched hand that was almost shaking in pain as it gripped the arm of the chair, "Miranda, really, what is it?"

"It's nothing," Miranda breathed through clenched teeth as she closed her eyes and concentrated on taking very slow and exact breaths as if ensuring she remained strictly in-between taking in enough oxygen to exist but no more than necessary so as not to cause any further pain.

"Miranda, please, tell me what is wrong, you're scaring me," Andy gently implored the Editor.

After a few moments of contemplative silence Miranda slowly nodded and dangerously whispered, "if you tell anyone, I will deny all knowledge, fire you and ensure you never work in journalism or New York ever again, do I make myself clear?"

Andy nodded, "crystal."

"Last Tuesday I didn't have lunch with Anne-Marie. I visited my physician," Miranda paused as if wondering exactly how to phrase the next part, "it seems I have a heart condition…" she admitted quietly.

Andy nodded slowly as the information sunk in before whispering, "what kind of condition?"

"I don't know," Miranda absently waved her hand in dismissal.

Andy closed her eyes and mentally pictured Miranda telling her doctor to 'bore someone else with the details'. She took a deep breath and internally counted slowly to ten before continuing, "fine, did you catch any of what he told you?"

Miranda shifted slightly and stared at her slipper-clad feet in almost embarrassment, "he prescribed some medications..."

Andy nodded, "well it isn't working."

"I haven't taken any of it," Miranda admitted as a small amount of colour entered into her pale cheeks.

Andy opened and closed her mouth for a few moments as she formulated her next sentence, mindful of the privileged conversation she was having with THE Miranda Priestly and not wanting to step out of line, "may I ask why?"

Miranda stared at a random point on the wall in quiet contemplation, Andy could see that Miranda was fighting a battle between finally opening up and maintaining the cool exterior she had obviously spent years building up.

"I don't... I mean, I never have... I don't like taking tablets," Miranda quietly admitted whilst carefully not making eye contact with Andy.

"Oh, I see," Andy said with a small nod, thinking it the safest thing to say at this point in time.

Andy continued to kneel and thought for a few moments to try to figure out exactly how she got herself in this mess and, more importantly, exactly how she proposed to get herself out of this mess.

As more time passed Miranda evidently became more and more uncomfortable with the silence and decided it was time to expand on her statement, "I never have been able to take them, I just can't do it, I have tried so many times in the past but I'm just not able to do it. My throat closes up and I feel like I'm going to choke."

"Did you mention any of this to your doctor?" Andy asked.

Miranda lifted her head, stared at Andy and slowly raised a graceful eyebrow in her direction.

"Yes, of course," Andy said as she shook her head as her own stupid question, "may I see the medicine?"

Miranda slowly turned her head away from Andy and whispered, "if you must. In the medicine cabinet in the en-suite."

"OK," Andy said as she stood up and made her way into the en-suite.

Andy paused only briefly to take in the luxuriousness of her surroundings before quickly locating the medicine cabinet and opening the small-mirrored doors and removing the only three bottles inside it. She examined the small bottles and read the dosage guidance on each, discovering that two of the medications need to be taken twice a day and the third three times a day. _Whatever she has wrong must be pretty serious if she has to take so much medication so frequently,_ she thought to herself.

Andy picked up the medication bottles and walked back into the bedroom where Miranda had shifted into a slightly more comfortable position in her chair.

"I'm going to go downstairs and make sure the twins are okay and make them breakfast and then I will call their school and tell them that they won't be in today. Then I'm going to call Emily and tell her that you and I will be working from the townhouse today and then I'll be back," Andy said with authority as she turned away from Miranda and walked confidently out of the room.

When Andy got to the kitchen the girls were already laying the table for breakfast giving Andy a warm feeling of what it must be like in the Priestly household in the morning before Miranda put her editorial mask on and left for the office.

"What's wrong with Mom?" Caroline asked Andy with a frown as she poured orange juice into her glass.

Andy smiled and walked over the kitchen cupboards to explore what a Priestly family breakfast might consist of, "she's got a cold, she is just feeling under the weather," Andy explained as she located a number of cereal boxes stashed in a cupboard. "The good news is that you girls get to stay home today as you'll have missed half the day by the time you get there now," Andy added as she placed the cereal boxes on the table.

Her news was greeted by smiling faces.

Andy quickly served the girls breakfast and herself coffee and explained to them that she was going to send for their nanny to come early and she was going to take their mother to the doctor. She downplayed the situation and was more than relieved that the girls appeared to accept everything she told them.

Andy gently knocked on the bedroom door and waited patiently to be told she could enter, the day was already surreal enough without walking in on Miranda getting dressed.

"Come," Miranda's soft voice carried.

Andy shouldered the door open and walked into the room carrying some Ben and Jerry's ice cream, a spoon and the bottles of Miranda's medication.

Miranda hadn't moved from the armchair by the window and when she saw what the young woman was carrying she raised an eyebrow as she waited for an explanation.

"I spoke to your doctor, he obviously wouldn't go into specifics but I told him that you were unwell and he advised me that you need to take this medication, immediately," Andy said as she placed the tub of ice cream on the bedside cabinet and gently shook a bottle in Miranda's direction.

Miranda silently rolled her eyes and turned her head to face away from Andy, indicating that she was no longer interested in her or anything she had to say.

Having spent time with the girls and seeing Miranda so small and vulnerable had spurred Andy into action, she was saying and doing things she never would have considered doing before but she knew that she had to. Miranda was stubborn and very sick, if Andy didn't do something the results could well be disastrous.

"When I was little I had terrible trouble taking pills, my throat would close up and I got myself into a real emotional state, ya know? My Mom taught me a neat trick, if you swallow a couple of spoons of ice cream before you take the pill it coats your throat to make the pill go down easier and it nubs your throat so you don't even feel the pill," Andy explained as she opened the ice cream tub and took a spoonful and turned to face Miranda.

"You want me to eat ice cream?" Miranda drawled in disbelief, "you really must have smacked your head…"

"Yep, I want you to eat a couple of spoonfuls and then you'll take your pill with a third spoonful and then we're going to see your doctor," Andy said as she held the spoon out to Miranda.

"Oh are we?" Miranda said as her eyes blazed with defiance.

"Yes, we are," Andy countered with as much strength as she could in her voice, "you have two beautiful girls downstairs who think their mother has a cold but if you don't start taking care of yourself then I quite frankly dread to think what will happen to them."

The fire in Miranda's eyes dissipated as she took Andy's words in and mulled them over. She slowly nodded her head and reached for the spoon of ice cream Andy was holding out to her.

Their fingers touched for a brief moment but neither dared to make eye contact, Andy picked up the ice cream tub to be ready to refill the spoon once Miranda had eaten her first bite.

"I simply cannot believe I'm eating ice cream for breakfast," Miranda muttered as she held the empty spoon out for Andy.

Rolling her eyes as she scooped out some more ice cream Andy replied, "it's late, think of it as brunch."

This earned her a trademarked Miranda smirk as the older woman took the second spoonful of ice cream and swallowed the contents.

"This isn't going to work," Miranda stated softly as she handed back the empty spoon for a second time. "I'll know the next spoonful contains the pill and I won't be able to swallow it."

Andy nodded, "you know, that's what I said to my Mom when I was little and do you know what she said to me?"

"Do enlighten me," Miranda said in a bored tone as Andy took the empty spoon from her.

"She said, 'oh well, the pill was in the second spoonful so it doesn't matter now, does it?'" Andy smiled brightly.

Miranda ruffled her nose in disgust, "what a childish deception..."

"Maybe so," Andy agreed, "but it works."

"Only once."

Andy's cheeks flushed and she turned away from Miranda to place the lid back on the ice cream tub.

Miranda smirked, "or perhaps not, it seems."

"The next time she did it I was expecting it in the second spoonful," Andy began.

"...but it had been in the first?" Miranda guessed, correctly judging by Andy's nodding.

"I was nine!" Andy replied with a laugh, enjoying the banter.

"So you say," Miranda gave a small chuckle, "for all I know it could have happened last week..."

Immediately Miranda knew she had made an error in judgement as Andy turned her face away and an atmosphere filled the room. Never one to be particularly proficient at heart to heart conversations Miranda decided to rescue them both from the uncomfortable moment, "needless to say I will not be fooled by that again."

"Then I'll have to think of something else," Andy whispered, seemingly without thinking.

Miranda had spent years of her life seeking out the smallest detail, seeing what others would miss. She examined the way Andy now refused to make eye contact and the glistening in her eyes, the sudden lack of confidence in her movements. Miranda thoughtfully cocked her head to the side and took everything in onboard in one long gaze.

Normally she would use this opportunity to break the girl down, seize the chance to further assert her authority. But between the sickly feeling that had overtaken her and the way Andy had taken control of the situation so utterly; seen to the girls, taken care of any questions at Runway and even assisted Miranda personally, she couldn't bring herself to act out.

"So," Miranda begun as she started to feel her strength return or at least the crippling pain slip away, "what now? I assume you have this all worked out?"

Andy nodded, "yes, like I said, we're going to see your doctor. The girls' nanny is on her way and then we'll head out."

Miranda waved her had dismissively, "I'm feeling better already."

"But it won't stay that way if you don't continue to take your medication and there may be other things you need to be doing, you know, like, lifestyle changes and stuff…" Andy drifted off as she noticed Miranda's bored expression turned into a stony glare at the utterance of the dreaded word.

Andy stared back at Miranda in silence, both of them stared at each other in silence, willing the other to break the deadlock. Eventually Miranda sighed, "very well, if you really do insist on continuing with this farce then I suppose I will have no peace until your wished have been granted."

Andy smiled but the smile was instantly wiped from her face by Miranda's glare, "do you, erm, do you, need, any help?"

And there it was, what Andy had been waiting for and dreading in equal measure. The glare, not just any old glare. The glare, the one she first saw when she had gone to the first floor of the house delivering the book and had seen Miranda and her ex-husband fighting. It terrified Andy to the core, with one look Miranda could reduce Andy to a petrified wreck.

Words were not necessary, Miranda didn't need help from Andy, or if she did she had decided she would rather die than seek it out. Andy stood up and gestured to the door, "I'll g-go, erm, downstairs, I'll see you downstairs."

Half an hour later Miranda silently glided down the staircase and into the hallway looking every inch the icon in her Dior trouser suit, it wasn't until her heels touched the marble of the hall floor that she made a sound, such was her ethereal poise. Andy stood with Miranda's coat ready by the closet watching the signs of fatigue in the editor's face.

As good as Miranda was at masking her feelings, Andy was better at reading the subtle facial expressions that she sometimes let slip. You didn't get very far at Runway if you couldn't distinguish the, sometimes barely perceptible, difference between white hot rage and approval.

Right now Andy was detecting a new facial expression in addition to Miranda's usual selection, pain, concealed pain. The older woman always held herself in a formal and stiff manner; Andy imagined years of practice had led Miranda to an authoritative gait that would put any etiquette school headmistress to shame. However the way Miranda held herself now was far more cautious than it was proper, any aloofness she was sensing from Miranda now seemed entirely driven out of a need to protect herself rather than a need to be decorous.

Miranda watched in uncertainty as Andy carefully helped her with her coat and opened the front door, "the girls?"

Andy's heart clenched at the lost inflection in Miranda's tone, "the nanny is with them I didn't think you'd want to say goodbye before we left?"

Miranda nodded and Andy breathed a sigh of relief that she had made the right decision in sending the girls to their rooms to allow Miranda free passage out of the house. Miranda walked out of the townhouse and down towards an unfamiliar car and an unfamiliar driver. Despite the fact that Roy had been driving Miranda for probably as many years as Andy had been alive she surmised that Miranda would want some anonymity for this particular journey. If the small nod of approval was anything to go by then Andy had indeed made the right choice with that particular decision.

The journey to Miranda's physician was made in silence apart from the sound of Andy texting and emailing various people on her mobile phone, knowing Miranda's aversion to small talk she wisely chose to remain silent unless spoken to.

Once Andy had reorganised Miranda's schedule she felt loathe to put her phone down and enter the thick atmosphere inside the car so she accessed Wikipedia instead and begun to research various heart conditions. The sheer volume of disastrous conditions that could damage the heart was mind-blowing to Andy; the heart was indeed easily fallible. Hearts could beat too slowly or too fast or simply irregularly, valves could be blocked, leaky, insufficient, damaged or even floppy. Walls could cave in, become too weak and even collapse. Hearts could stop with or without warning there could be pain or discomfort or even no indication at all. There were a number of procedures and medications all of which made Andy's head spin. Eventually Andy made a quick mental list of the valves and chambers of the hearts, common conditions and the seriousness of each so she would be prepared with questions.

Fear was the most common emotion that Andy felt when she was in Miranda's presence and it had been that way since they very first met. Miranda ran her life, and the magazine, by manipulating people to do her bidding through fear, simple as that.

However something had changed over the last few minutes that fear that Andy knew so well was giving way to something else and that something was anger. Miranda's attitude since they stepped foot into the doctor's office had been dreadful, much worse than Andy had ever known her to be. She was distant, moody, sarcastic, feigned boredom and refused to listen or answer.

Andy couldn't help but stare at her open-mouthed as the older woman proclaimed that she felt fine and even that she had been taken the medicine prescribed to her. Never in a million years would Andy have predicted that she would have found the courage to stand up and say what she said next.

"That's such bull!" Andy said with a fury in her voice that made Miranda snap her head around and stare at her second assistant in shock.

Doctor Barrow looked at Andy with a smile, "go on," he asked.

"She's not taking her medicine at all, she took one of these this morning but only because I made her do it," Andy said as she thrust the bottle into his hand.

Miranda was so stunned by the outburst that she didn't reply, she didn't even move as if she were rooted to the spot in shock. Andy was supremely grateful for this complete inaction from her boss because she felt that if Miranda found her voice then Andy would instantly lose hers.

"She can't take pills," Andy addressed the Doctor, "are there alternative medicines she could take, I know the Digoxin can come as a liquid…"

Doctor Barrow nodded and turned to start entering information into his computer, "absolutely, I'll get you a prescription for the medications in liquid form."

Andy sighed in relief and refused to make eye contact with Miranda for fear of losing her courage, "so, she needs to cut down on coffee as well, right?"

"Yeah, 'fraid so," he said with a look of sympathy. Miranda for her part just made a quiet huffing noise, "but the most critical thing is to avoid stress."

The huffing noise turned into a snort of laughter and Miranda shook her head and turned her head away from the pair as if trying to distance herself from their ridiculous circus.

Doctor Barrow took a deep breath, "I realise that is a tall order for someone in your position, Miranda. While the link between stress and cardiovascular is still being questioned by some it is clear that the symptoms that stress causes are directly related to heart problems."

Miranda ignored him and continued her staring at the office radiator and Andy sighed, "so, she needs to reduce the stress, take the liquid medication, what else can be done?"

"I'll print you a list of diet changes and exercise recommendations, this can be managed," he said with a smile.

Andy smiled a forced smile back. While she knew that heart conditions could be managed she knew that Miranda couldn't and asking Miranda to do certain things at certain times that she didn't want to do was going to be like pushing syrup uphill with a fork.

"...then I'll speak with Maria about your new dietary requirements and we'll have to find a personal trainer who specialises in this ... erm ... field," Andy said, mentally congratulating herself for avoiding using the word 'stuff'.

They had only been back in the car for two minutes but the second she had assured herself that the privacy glass was up she had begun telling Miranda of her plans. For her part Miranda had not said a word and was staring up at the sky with a bored expression.

"Oh!" Andy remembered, "you should spend more time with Patricia, pets reduce stress levels, I read it in..."

"I need 25 scarves from Hermes," Miranda drawled in her typically quiet fashion.

Andy turned to look at Miranda in surprise but Miranda continued to face away from her, still staring out of the window.

"And tell Francisco, no, definitely no to the draft layout for the Mexico piece. Then get Lucille on a place from Paris but tell her that she better have lost the weight or don't bother coming at all. My dry cleaning smelt ... different yesterday, find a list of the chemicals they use and isolate the one I don't like the smell of."

Andy blinked a few times to clear the haze from her brain, "but, Miranda..." she started.

Then it happened, what Andy had been dreading, Miranda turned to face her. Gone was the pained expression, either the pain had left or she had worked out a better disguise. In its place was the fiery stare that scared Andy to her core. The look on Miranda's face spoke volumes, it was a look of boredom, surprise at the ineptitude, venom and exasperation all in one and Andy felt it melt her resolve.

"Move the run-through to one o'clock and tell Nigel I want the new Valeria mock-ups on my desk when I arrive. Oh," she almost smiled, "I've been reading about new double roasted and baked coffee beans from Malaysia, only one store in New York supplies it - get me a double shot latte with soy milk. That's all."

With Miranda back up to full strength Andy faltered and stuttered for a few moments before shutting her open mouth and taking a deep breath. She was near tears in frustration, mainly at herself and her weakness against a full on Miranda attack.

The car pulled up to the Elias Clark building and a member of staff opened Miranda's door and she stepped out as if nothing had happened that morning.

Andy opened her car door and stepped out into the traffic-free road and watched the white haired woman strutting her way towards the main entrance. With a sigh Andy lifted her phone to her ear and started doing what she did best and what Miranda clearly wanted her to do. Her job.

"Come on, Andy," Doug said as he put an empty beer bottle down on the table, "what's up?"

Andy looked up at her friend with cloudy eyes, "hmm?"

Doug rolled his eyes and sighed overly dramatically, "I was just asking you what's up, because clearly something is, you've been staring at the table for the last half hour and you're still only halfway through your first beer!"

Andy looked from Doug to the beer on the table and shook her head to clear the errant thoughts, "I'm sorry, Doug. It's just been a really weird day, ya know?"

Doug nodded in understanding and flagged down a passing waitress, "excuse me, can we have two more beers?"

The waitress nodded with a smile and went to get their drinks and Doug looked at Andy with mock seriousness, "now you have a whole beer and a half to finish which will give you plenty of time to tell me all about it."

Andy laughed lightly, "I wish I could but it's," Andy looked around to check no one could overhear them in the busy bar, "it's private stuff … about Miranda..."

Doug nodded his understanding, "I get it but it looks like it's eating you up, Honey! You can tell me, I won't tell a soul, maybe I can help?"

Andy took a deep breath and appeared to think about the offer for a few minutes before she finally nodded and gestured for him to lean across the table while she spoke to him in a low voice.

"Miranda didn't show up this morning for, like, ages. In the end I had to go to the house to see if she was dead or something," Andy started but paused at the shocked look on Doug's face, "she wasn't, obviously."

Doug rolled his eyes at himself and the waitress returned to serve the beers, once she had left Andy continued, "so I go in and nothing, nowhere, next floor, nothing. The twins are there and they haven't seen her so now I have to go to the top floor and into her bedroom."

Doug smiled at Andy's horrified face, he waggled his eyebrows for dramatic effect and Andy leaned over and punched him on the arm.

"Hey, this is serious," she said with half a smile, "so, she's there but she's ill. Really ill, she tells me she went to the doctor last week and he told her she has a heart condition and had prescribed her medication. But, she's Miranda, so she hasn't taken it, naturally. So, there I am, honestly, I dunno what to do, it's Miranda, right?"

Doug nodded his understanding, since they had been having these weekly catch ups he had heard a lot of Miranda stories and he had a good idea what the Editor was like to work for and how scared Andy was of her.

"Anyway, I get her to take her medicine, call the office and make some excuses, call the school and say the girls won't be there, tell the girls Miranda has a cold and that they will stay home today, call the doctor to make another appointment because she looks like she's about to pass out. I do everything, deal with all of it for her.

"Then I get a car, not the usual car, another car to take us to the doctor's office. I research heart conditions because she didn't listen to him the first time round, in the doctor's office I get her prescribed different medicine - long story - and ask questions and take notes ... and she is just being … Miranda," Andy said as she picked up her half-full beer and flopped back into the chair, "well, she wasn't being typical Miranda, she was ... I don't know, nicer. Not nice, just nicer. Warmer I suppose."

Doug nodded for her to continue as he saw the brunette struggle for what she wanted to say.

"We didn't braid each other's hair or anything but we had a connection, you know. Mutual respect at the very least," Andy said.

"That's great," Doug smiled but saw the face Andy made and the smile dropped from his face, "isn't it?"

"It was great," Andy agreed, "until we headed back to Runway. Then she just snapped back to Miranda in all her horrible glory. She slapped me down and made me feel so ... small. Like nothing had happened. Then all day she has treated me like dirt, more so than usual. It's as if she's testing me, Doug. I thought we'd gone beyond this after the hurricane and the Harry Potter stuff she started to ... I dunno, tolerate me. Trust me. But now she's worse than ever."

Doug stood up and quickly crossed to Andy's side of the table and sat next to her in the booth, he took her hand and said, "it's just the way she is Andy, you know what she is like. She's proud and you saw her weak, she won't have liked that. She's just trying to distance you, put you back in your place."

"Well, it's working!" Andy sniffed back a tear, "she was awful today, Doug, really awful. I suppose I just feel so stupid because I really felt ... sorry for her this morning. I really cared for her, not that I don't usually care for her but it was different, you know?"

Doug nodded, "you saw another side to her, a defenseless side."

"Exactly, it was ... like we really connected but then she snapped it away, I don't even know why I'm so upset about it," she took another sip of her drink, "and I don't know what to do about it. She refuses to look after herself, she doesn't seem to understand how serious it is."

"Well," Doug said, "you have two choices. Either show her you're not afraid of her, even though you are," he nudged her playfully, "and make her look after herself. Ya know, stand up to her and refuse to get her coffee! Or you roll over and act like you don't care, play her at her own game."

Andy played with the bottle in her hand, "the thing is, I do care, don't ask me why but I do. And I know she'll work herself into an early grave and by early I mean tomorrow lunch time. She doesn't seem to understand, or care, or both."

Andy put the bottle on the table and leaned into Doug, "it would just kill me if something happened to her, if those girls had to grow up without a mother and there was something I coulda done about it."

Doug held Andy and gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze, "then you have your answer, you are going to have to stand up to her and make her understand, make her take care of herself. Or, you know, make her let you take care of her … you know what I mean!"

Andy laughed and wiped a tear that was threatening to fall from the corner of her eye, "yeah, I know what you mean. And you're right! Dammit she's going to just have to deal with it!"

The next morning Andy sat at her desk waiting for Miranda's arrival, she'd been planning all night what she was going to do and what she was going to say and she just hoped that her courage held out. She was ready to be punished, fully expecting to be sent on all kinds of impossible errands but if it meant Miranda being safe and well then it was ultimately worth it.

Miranda threw the outer office door open strode in with her coat slung over her arm and her handbag hooped over her wrist. She glanced at Emily's empty desk and then towards Andy and without making eye contact dumped her bag and her coat onto Andy's desk before stalking into her office.

Andy quickly put the coat and the bag away and waited for Miranda's oh so gentle voice to call her name. She stood out of Miranda's line of vision and took a deep breath as she counted to ten in her head, she barely got to three when, "Andrea," could be heard from the main office.

Taking another deep and calming breath Andy walked into the office, "yes, Miranda?"

Miranda stood behind her desk with a look of confusion and distain directed at some unfamiliar items on her desk, "what is this? Where is my coffee? I didn't ask for this…" the Editor softly said in confusion.

"No coffee today," Andy bravely announced before pointing at one of the see-through plastic drinking containers on Miranda's desk, "that is a Chai seed heart healthy smoothie, it has Acai berries, unsweetened almond milk and, obviously Chai seeds."

Miranda was still clearly coming to terms with the changes in her routine and continued to stand behind her desk looking at the smoothie as if it were from another planet.

Andy carried on, "the other smoothie is called Berry Healthy," she ignored Miranda's rolling eyes, "and it has protein powder, almond milk, a banana, spinach and some blueberries which I thought sounded delicious!"

"It's purple," Miranda pointed out.

"Yes, it's purple but delicious," Andy reiterated.

It was almost adorable how disconcerted and lost Miranda looked as she examined the strange beverages in front of her, not even daring to sit down as if this were some stranger's office.

"But, my coffee," Miranda began before seeing another item on her desk, "what is that?"

Andy looked excited, "oh, that is the very latest watch heart monitor, you put it on and it tells you what your heart rate and pulse is. You can sink it to your mobile so you can keep an eye on your heart rate, it tells you how many steps you've walked in a day and it tells you when you need to walk some more. You can also set timers, like when to take your medication."

Miranda looked at the watch with disdain before her eyes snapped back up to Andy, "Andrea," she said slowly and purposefully, "get me my coffee now or I shall not be responsible for my actions."

Andy swallowed hard but stood her ground, "no, I won't do it, and Emily is in Mexico on the shoot so if you want coffee you'll have to get it yourself."

Miranda's eyes looked wild as she stalked around the desk and approached Andy, "if you're attempting to keep my heart rate down you are going about it the wrong way," Miranda said and pointed at her desk, "I am going to Starbucks to get my own coffee and if when I get back any of this ridiculous nonsense is still here then you will no longer be in my employment. Good God, Andrea, who the hell do you think you are? You are my second assistant and nothing more, you do not tell me what to do. Do your job, if that doesn't tax you too much and stay out of my personal life!"

Miranda stalked out of the office and while she hadn't actually shouted it was certainly the closest Andy had ever heard and it had terrified her. Any and all resolve she had just melted away the second Miranda gave her that look. She thought she had prepared herself to deal with Miranda and her mood but it became quickly clear that she hadn't.

Over the next four days Andy was punished just as she had feared she might have been, impossible tasks, endless trips across the city, ridiculous timescales and always completed with a stony-eyed dressing down, whether she had been successful or not. Miranda was fiery and cold all at once and while she never shouted her whispered retorts tore into Andy deeply.

While Andy would never allow Miranda the satisfaction of seeing her cry she had definitely welled up on more than one occasion in Miranda's office and each time she waited until she was either in the kitchen or the ladies bathroom before she allowed the tears to flow. They were tears of frustration and hurt, Miranda's actions were simply to push Andy and teach her a lesson and her words were hurtful. But the frustration was cause by seeing Miranda hell-bent on her own self-destruction, she'd doubled her coffee order and Emily practically fainted when she saw Miranda walk into the office having just finished a pint of ice cream.

Andy had set out to do one thing but the results had been the exact opposite, now she felt for sure that her action would be the cause of Miranda's downfall rather than her inaction.

It was nine thirty in the evening and Miranda had told Andy to stay behind while she worked late, she'd sent Andy out for coffee twice and was now working in her office while Andy played an online game to while away the time.

Nigel walked into the outer office and looked at Andy with a sigh, "going to tell me why she is punishing you yet?"

Andy smiled brightly, "nothing to tell, she just hates me. You know, as usual."

Nigel shook his head and walked into Miranda's office to discuss some details about an upcoming photo shoot while Andy continued trying to pop all the balloons with the darts that the monkey threw for her. She couldn't quite hear what was being said other than Miranda's soft, yet negative, tones. She clearly wasn't happy with anything Nigel said or did and instructed endless changes that would no doubt see them all working up until midnight, again.

After twenty minutes of trying to get Miranda to be reasonable Nigel left the office and rolled his eyes as he past Andy and returned to the safety of his own office. Andy carried on popping balloons, trying to be as discreet as possible in the hope that Miranda would forget about her.

"Andrea."

Andy sighed and stood up and straightened her clothes and fluffed her fringe, not that it mattered as the Editor would no doubt find fault anyway. Walking around her desk and into the dragon's lair Andy tried her best to smile, "yes, Miranda?"

Miranda didn't reply, she sat in her chair holding her silver founding pen so tightly that her hand was turning white from the pressure. She looked paler than ever and her eyes were distant and confused.

"Miranda?" Andy pressed as she stood closer to the desk, "what is it?"

"My ... my chest hurts," Miranda stuttered as her eyes flicked up to Andy in fear.

Andy nodded and kicked into action, "do not move, stay right there and do not move at all, I'm going to get Aspirin and call the paramedics, do not move."

Andy didn't know if it was from the pain or if she was actually doing what she was told but to her credit Miranda didn't move and Andy quickly went to her desk and picked up her cell and the package of soluble Aspirin she had been keeping in her desk drawer just in case.

She returned and with one hand she dialed 911 and shouldered the cell phone and with the other hand she fished out a soluble tablet and filled a glass of water and put the tablet in. She swirled the glass gently to get the mixture to dissolve and spoke with the operator and gave the necessary information while asking them to hurry. Once she was off the phone she picked up Miranda's desk phone and called down to reception and told them an ambulance was on the way to allow them access as quickly as possible.

Putting both phones down she placed the glass in front of Miranda, "you need to drink this Aspirin, it will help."

Miranda tilted her head slightly and stared at the fountain pen that was still wedged in her grasp. Andy reach forward and ever so gently prized the older woman's fingers open to release the pen, "try to stay as still as possible, the ambulance is on the way."

Miranda slowly reached for the glass and drank the unpalatable liquid without complaint and Andy could see small drops of perspiration appearing on Miranda's forehead.

"My arms hurt," Miranda said as she looked up at the young woman with a confused expression in her eyes.

Andy nodded and knelt beside the Editor's chair, not wanting to touch Miranda she would simple make do with being close by, "yes, don't worry the paramedics will be here soon…"

The confusion didn't leave Miranda's eyes, "Andrea…"

Andy looked at her boss, "yes, Miranda?"

"What's happening to me?" Miranda asked.

Andy realised that Miranda must be in shock as she gently answered, "you're having a heart attack, but don't worry, I'm here."


	2. Chapter 2

"This really is intolerable," Miranda muttered through clenched teeth as she did her best to sit as still as possible in an effort to alleviate the pain she was feeling.

"I know, just hang in there and it will all be fine," Andy attempted to soothe the older woman while kneeling beside her and looking up at the Editor.

A flash of anger sped through Miranda's eyes, "you know? You know? What would you know? You're just a child, you don't have any experience of the ravages of time taking their toll on the body."

Andy rolled her eyes at Miranda's dramatisation, "fine, I don't know."

Miranda's eyes flicked over to the woman who was kneeling besides her, "well, go on, say it."

"Say what?" Andy asked in puzzlement.

"That you knew this would happen, you tried to warn me. A good old fashioned 'I told you so', come on Andrea, don't disappoint me again," Miranda smirked through the pain she was feeling.

Andy was appalled and then angry in quick succession and she opened her mouth to speak but slammed it shut again and closed her eyes to calm herself.

Miranda smiled, "how ... predictable."

Andy took a deep breath and opened her eyes, "it's the girls I feel sorry for, I don't think I can pity you any more than I already do."

The smile was instantly gone from Miranda's face at the mention of her precious girls, she was about to retort when Andy continued, "even during a heart attack, which might kill you by the way, you are still truly awful and revelling in it. Is there nothing left inside you but anger and bitterness? Don't you want to tell me to pass on your love to your family in your possible last breaths? No, not Miranda Priestly, no she wants to spend that time insulting me. Having a go at making me cry one last time before death."

A solitary tear tracked its way down Miranda's pale face and Andy reached her hand up to gently wipe the tear away with the back of her crooked fingers, "better get rid of that, wouldn't want it to freeze to your face."

Miranda swallowed hard and looked Andy in the eye as she said, "tell my girls I love them more than anything. My God, my girls, what will happen to my girls?"

Andy couldn't feel sorry for the woman, not yet, "well hopefully they will help you get over this, make sure you eat healthily, take walks and look after yourself. But, if something does happen then I promise you I will look out for them Miranda."

Miranda looked like she was about to reply but somehow the words seemed to get stuck. It was then that they were thankfully interrupted by two paramedics pulling a wheeled stretcher into the office.

Andy took control and gave them all the information about what had happened as well as Miranda's medical history, or as much of it as she knew. After some basic tests they decided it was best to get Miranda to a local heart specialist ward as quickly as possible and transferred her to the stretcher which Andy could tell she was none too pleased with.

Two hours later Andy was sat in the waiting room at the hospital reading the colourful health warnings on the wall. Well, she'd done everything else possible. She'd rearranged Miranda's schedule and told the few people who absolutely needed to know, including the girls nanny Isabella. The girls had already gone to bed and while Miranda had clearly had a serious heart attack she had not been classified as in critical condition. Andy and Isabella had decided to let the girls sleep and to see what the morning brought, hopefully Miranda would be feeling and looking well enough for them to see her then.

A kindly looking female nurse walked through some double doors and looked over at Andy with a small smile, "you should probably go home, Miss Sachs, it's going to be a while yet before your boss is ready for visitors."

Andy looked at the woman and considered what she had said, her boss. Because that's all that Miranda was to her technically, a boss, an employer. It seemed ridiculous that an assistant would sit around in a hospital all night for their boss but that was exactly what Andy was planning to do. And she didn't know why, after Miranda's recent behaviour Andy would have been well within her rights to have dumped the older woman in the hospital and head home to a cold beer and a warm bed.

She shook her head, "I'd like to stay, check she doesn't cause too much trouble."

The nurse had clearly been involved in Miranda's care as she laughed at that comment and said, "ah, too late!"

"Oh, it gets worse. Trust me," Andy laughed.

The nurse raised an eyebrow, "you must have the patience of a saint to deal with that all day every day! Still, she's a fighter which is good in these situations."

The laughter died on Andy's lips as she was again reminded of the seriousness of the situation, "how is it going?"

The nurse sighed and took a seat next to Andy in the empty waiting room, "it's early days, we don't know what damage has been done yet. But, as I said, she's a fighter and that is really good news. She's having a few more tests and then they will hook her up to some monitors so we can keep an eye on her and then she needs to rest until all the results are in. From what I've seen of her, that might be a problem."

Andy nodded, "yeah, that will be a problem. If I could sit with her I could probably help," she added, hopefully.

The nurse nodded, "tell you what, why don't we take you through to her room now? That way you'll be there for her to abuse when she gets out of the scanner," the nurse winked.

Andy beamed, "that would be great, thank you so much!"

The nurse stood up, "if you're brave enough to work for her then I think you deserve a more comfortable chair than these!"

Andy woke up with a start, the jolt of reality that someone only has when they realise they drifted off when they shouldn't have. She sat upright and looked around the room in confusion trying to piece together where she was and what was happening.

"I'm the one who had the heart attack and you're the one sleeping," Miranda drawled.

Andy turned to look at the hospital bed where Miranda was sat up flicking through a magazine. Andy shifted in her seat so she was also sitting up from where she had become slumped during her nap. She looked at her watch to assess how much time she had slept for.

"About three hours," Miranda helpfully supplied without looking up, "well, I've been here two and a half hours and you were in that state when I arrived."

Andy confirmed that with her watch and looked around in confusion, the lights were on and the TV was flickering though it was silenced.

Miranda looked over the top of her magazine at Andy, "are you always like this in the morning?"

Andy looked at Miranda and realised after a few moments that the older woman was indeed awaiting on an answer to that question, "err, yeah, I guess so. Never really been a morning ... err ... person."

Miranda raised one eyebrow as she continued to stare at Andy, "evidently."

Blinking a few times Andy started to take in more of her surroundings, the morning sun was beginning to come up in the distance and the vague bleeps and beeps of the machinery Miranda was wired up to was the only sound in the room.

Andy stood up and approached the foot of Miranda's bed, "is there anything I can do for you, Miranda?"

Miranda returned to her magazine, "no, that's all."

Andy's heart sunk, that was it? After all she had done for her she was being dismissed? She took a deep breath, "okay."

She turned around and returned to the chair she had been sleeping in and covered herself up with her overcoat as she had before. Miranda looked over the magazine with a confused expression, "Andrea?"

"Yes, Miranda?" Andy asked sweetly.

"I said that's all," Miranda reiterated.

"Yes, I know," Andy answered.

"Then why are you still here?" Miranda questioned, sounding exasperated at the girl.

"I want to be here," Andy answered honestly.

Miranda snorted a laugh of disbelief.

"You had a heart attack and I want to stay here to make sure you are okay," Andy said and picked up a book out of her bag and started reading it. Miranda stared at the girl in confusion before looking back at her magazine.

Some considerable time of silent companionship went by with Andy reading her book and Miranda pretending to read her magazine. Eventually Andy put looked at her watch and put her book down on the chair arm.

"Miranda?"

Miranda looked over the top of her magazine with an enquiring face.

"It's nearly the time when the girls wake up," Andy started, "what do you want to do? Shall I get them to come here?"

"Absolutely not," Miranda said as she put the magazine down on her blanket-covered legs.

Andy sucked in her cheek, "okay, what's the plan?"

Miranda looked confused and Andy continued, "whether you like it or not you are going to be in here for at least another day and when you do go home ... things will be different. You can't hide this from the girls, heck when they wake up and find out you're not home they'll start to worry."

Miranda considered this briefly before nodding, "yes, yes, you're right," she said with distracted wave of her hand as she thought more about the topic.

"Someone will have to tell them, call Isabella and tell her to tell them that I am ... unwell, but that everything is fine. No details," Miranda nodded to herself, satisfied that her plan was solid.

"Okay," Andy said and Miranda gave her a look with an accompanying roll of the eyes.

"They'll want to see you, any child would," Andy said.

Miranda considered this information and nodded, "they should visit, just so they can see for themselves that I'm fine."

Andy knew she was about out of okays so she nodded but hesitantly added, "right..."

"Out with it, Andrea," the older woman huffed.

"They may only be eight but they are your daughters and they will know what cardiac unit means and when they see you, hooked up to all those machines," Andy paused to find the right words, "they'll, they'll worry."

"I don't want them knowing I had a heart attack," Miranda said quietly.

"Why not?" Andy asked, "they should know, what if something happens at home? What if they need to call the ambulance and they don't know you've previously had a heart attack? That is the kind of information that will save your life, Miranda. Of course you want to protect them but I think they need to know."

As soon as Andy said it she was mentally calculating her bank balance and whether she had enough money to pay for bills and rent as Miranda was obviously going to fire her on the spot for telling her how to raise her daughters.

Miranda just stared at Andy, the classic empty stare that terrified so many people because of the distinct lack of emotion. Miranda had it nailed, she really did, most people can only deal with the known. If someone is angry then the response is to either be angry back or to placate. Emotions have responses. But Miranda's empty stare took away the safety net of knowing what she was thinking or what she was about to do. Fear of the unknown, captured in a look.

"I agree," Miranda eventually said, almost as if it pained her. She looked back at her magazine, "have Isabella tell them I am unwell and bring them to the hospital, I shall explain the details myself."

Andy smiled with relief but the smile soon vanished when Miranda looked up at her and simply said, "go."

Andy liked Isabella, she liked anyone who worked for Miranda's household and survived the experience. The tall, thin Italian nanny was immaculately dressed and presented at all times but she was also fantastic with the twins. Four years' experience with the twins had clearly prepared the woman for a difficult and question-fuelled journey to the hospital.

Andy stood in the waiting room for the cardiac unit and awaited their arrival, she was pacing back and forth in anticipation and dread. She knew this would be a difficult time for the girls and she wanted to make sure that everything was handled well, this event could shape the rest of their lives.

The automatic double doors slid quietly open and Caroline and Cassidy came racing into the room with Isabella right behind them.

"Mom? Where's Mom?" Cassidy asked Andy as her eyes darted around in fear.

The twins hadn't spent a lot of time with Andy other than when she gave them presents from Miranda or did their homework for them, they had certainly never bonded and Andy wasn't quite sure how to play it.

"I'll take you to her room," Andy said as she herded the girls together and mouthed a thank you to Isabella who took a seat in the waiting room. As they walked up the corridor Cassidy immediately started asking questions, "is Mom okay?"

Andy nodded, "she is, I promise you she is."

Caroline's face was ashen as she looked up and asked Andy, "what happened? Are you sure Mom is okay? Like, really promise?"

Andy paused briefly and bent down between the two girls and gently put a comforting hand on their upper arms, "it's not really my place to tell you but, well ... she had a heart attack, she is fine, I really promise. But when you go in there she's going to look quite unwell and she's gonna have lots of machines wired up to her so the doctors can make sure she's okay. It's going to look a little weird but you have to be brave, okay?"

The girls looked shocked but quickly composed themselves and gave a simultaneous nod. Andy stood up and led them down the corridor and up to Miranda's room, she knocked and waited to hear "come" before she opened the doors and let the two redheads run in.

Miranda smiled warmly as the girls ran to the side of her bed empty from machines. Andy could tell that she had spent some time tidying up her hair and had attempted to cover up some of the wires and drains with the bed linen in a typical protective mom fashion.

Suddenly Andy was taken back eighteen years and she felt her heart double-beat at the memory, she blinked back a tear and bolted down the corridor but not before Miranda had seen and registered the event.

Five minutes later Andy entered the room as if nothing had happened and quietly walked over to and sat in her chair. The twins were perched on the bed and Miranda was nodding as they told her about what happened in school the previous day.

While Cassidy was engaged in a particularly long piece about how unfair it was that they'd both been made to run five laps in gym because Caroline had been talking to a boy and the teacher couldn't tell them apart, Miranda looked over the girls heads at Andy.

Andy could sense her boss's eyes burning into her skull and she looked up and made eye contact with Miranda. The look clearly asked if she was okay and Andy nodded and smiled as best she could. Miranda either bought it or decided to file it away for a conversation at a later date but she returned to listening to the twins.

Ten minutes later a doctor walked into the room and stood beside the door with a clipboard held in his hands. He was tall and very handsome and Andy performed a classic double-take when she saw him. He smiled at her and held his hand out, "Doctor Stratford, Michael."

The brunette smiled and shook his hand, "Andy Sachs," she replied.

"And I'm Miranda, you know, the one who had the heart attack, your patient," Miranda glared at him from her bed. The twins looked at the man with suspicion but Michael didn't seem bothered by a trio of Priestly glares as he walked over to the bed and held his hand out to Miranda, which she neglected to take.

Michael laughed and lowered his hand, "I'm afraid visiting time is over..."

Miranda nodded in understanding that he wished to speak without the children present, "is Isabella here?"

"Yes, in the waiting room," Cassidy said.

"Do you know the way back to the waiting room?" Miranda asked the girls and the both nodded. They then one by one reached up and gave her a hug and a kiss before filing out of the room. Andy stood to leave as well and Miranda looked shocked, "where are you going?"

"Err, I was..." Andy started, "staying right here."

Miranda nodded in satisfaction and looked up at Michael, "do continue, and let's not move at a glacial pace. I would like to be out of here as soon as possible."

Michael smiled, "very well, as you know, you suffered a heart attack, you were lucky that you had Aspirin and that you got to us when you did or it would have bene much worse and potentially fatal. I understand from my notes that you have previously seen your doctor and he had given you medication for your heart condition?"

Miranda pursed her lips and looked away and Andy raised her voice, "true but she hasn't taken the medication."

Michael turned to look at Andy and saw the pleading look on her face, "I see, well, hopefully this has been a wakeup call?"

Miranda sat silently with pursed lips staring at the floor with feigned boredom.

"Miranda," Andy tried, "will you take the medication now?"

Miranda gave a half nod which was clearly the best they were going to get out of her at the moment.

Michael nodded, "good, you have two beautiful daughters and I think you owe it to them to get better."

Miranda snorted a laugh before she mumbled, "get better, for what? This is Gods way of telling you to prepare for the end, time for the scrapheap. Why delay the inevitable?"

Andy's eyes snapped up to look at Miranda, she finally understood why Miranda had refused to look after herself. She didn't think she would get better, she didn't see any point in prolonging the suffering.

"I'm sorry, there seems to be a mistake with your details," Michael said as he squinted at the clipboard, "you see, it says here that you are fifty-six but the way you are talking you are obviously eighty-six?"

The force of Miranda's glare at Michael was enough to make Andy take a step back in fear but it didn't seem to faze Michael in the slightest.

"A heart attack is not a death sentence, nor is it a sign of age, healthy 20 year olds drop dead of heart attacks. Thousands of people who have suffered heart attacks go on to live very long, active and happy lives," Michael said, "the only way this is the end is if you let it be. You are a strong and healthy woman, take your medicine, adhere to a diet, exercise lightly but regularly and take it easy for a little while and you will be as good as new in no time."

Miranda looked like an enormous weight had been lifted from her shoulders and her eyes began to well up with tears.

"I need you to stay here for at least another four hours while we make sure there is nothing underlying causing this. Rest, get plenty of fluids and I'll be back then to, hopefully, discharge you," Michael said with a smile. He turned on his heel and gave Andy his business card and winked at her, Andy blushed intensely as he left the room.


	3. Chapter 3

As soon as Micheal left the room Miranda looked at Andy, " I don't like him."

Andy nodded, "I know. But he is one of the best cardiac doctors in New York so whether you like him or not you should probably still listen to him."

As soon as Micheal left the room Miranda looked at Andy, " I don't like him."

Andy nodded, "I know. But he is one of the best cardiac doctors in New York so whether you like him or not you should probably still listen to him."

Miranda looked away and pouted while she thought about things and eventually she spoke again, "did your mother pass from a heart attack, Andrea?"

Miranda looked up at Andy with a kindness in her eyes that the young brunette rarely saw. While Andy would usually never dream of sharing personal details of her life with Miranda she could sense that something had changed between them, there was an understanding, a truce of sorts. Andy was going to work to keep that truce in effect for as long as possible so she walked to the side of Miranda's bed and pulled a chair up to sit next to the older woman.

"My mother isn't dead," Andy said as she sat down and looked at Miranda who looked surprised.

"I apologise, I had the impression..."

Andy held her hand up to wave away the apology, "yes, I can see how you would have assumed that. My mother needs twenty four hour care, she had a stroke when I was seven years old and it left her with permanent brain damage."

Miranda looked stunned at the news and gave Andy a compassionate look, "I am so sorry, I had no idea."

"I don't really talk about it," Andy said, "Mom has been ill most of my life, I don't really remember anything else. The first stroke she had I was at home and I found her, God I was terrified. I had no idea what was going on but Mom had taught me how to call an ambulance since I was able to talk so I knew how to get help."

Andy coughed delicately in an attempt to cover up the way her voice started to break, "the next time I saw her she was sitting in a hospital bed just like you are now, when I came to see her she had put some make up on and was trying to hide the wires, ya know, so she didn't look so scary to me."

Miranda nodded, recognising her own desire to protect her children from that image.

"She didn't tell me what had happened, just that she was sick and she'd be better soon. I kinda left there with the impression there had been a big mistake, that she was in hospital because of some admin error or something. She gave me a kiss and sent me off to school, I didn't want to go but she said it was important I didn't miss anything just to watch her laying in bed... so, I went to school."

Andy paused and Miranda watched as the brunette replayed the events in her mind and debated how best to continue her story.

"I was in science when Mrs Roberts came into the classroom, no one liked Mrs Roberts because she was so scary and when she called me out of the room my legs felt like they were made of lead. I was sure I was in trouble but once we got into the corridor she knelt down and put her arm around my shoulder and told me that my Mom had suffered a stroke and that I had to go to the hospital. I didn't know what a stroke was but I assumed it was bad by the way she gave me this pitying look."

A tear started to fall down Andy's face and Miranda quickly plucked a tissue from the box on her bedside table and handed it to her.

"Thanks," Andy said as she gratefully took the tissue, "anyway, my Dad had been visiting Grandma and had made it to the hospital by the time I got there. I still didn't really know what was going on but once I saw his face I kinda knew that everything was going to change. She couldn't walk, couldn't talk, she was in there but she couldn't operate her body but I was seven so I didn't really understand that. All I could see was this shell of a woman, who was once my Mom."

Andy wiped at the few tears and took a deep and calming breath, "that stayed with me forever. Which is why I was so keen for Caroline and Cassidy to know what has happened, to have an understanding of what it means."

Miranda nodded, "I understand. And you are quite right, they may be children but children grow up so fast these days. I want to protect them but sometimes I know I overprotect them."

"They need you, Miranda, just as much as you need them," Andy said quietly, "that's one of the reasons why I so desperately wanted you to take care of yourself. I know I crossed a line..."

Miranda sighed softly, "you were doing your job, Andrea. I was being foolish."

If Andy was surprised at Miranda's honesty she certainly knew better than to show it, "so, what now?"

Miranda looked at Andy and honestly replied, "I don't know."

"Will you let me help you?" Andy asked, her eyes almost pleading with Miranda.

Miranda looked away as she considered this. Andy knew that Miranda out and out considered this a sign of weakness and was not happy to admit in any way, shape or form that she needed this kind of assistance. Eventually Miranda broke the silence with a small nod of the head, "yes, yes I must."

A beaming smile crept across Andy's face as she felt the relief hit but suddenly she was serious again, "I need you to properly commit to this, Miranda. I can't help you if you won't help yourself, you need to be open and honest about things. You have to actually talk to me and let me know how you're feeling."

Miranda balked at the very idea but softened when she saw Andy's determined look.

"But, I, I... I don't even know myself, how am I to tell you?" Miranda questioned in exasperation.

Andy frowned, "what do you mean?"

Miranda rolled her eyes at being questioned but to her credit appeared to be working on an answer and after a few thoughtful moments she said, "I don't exactly know how to listen to my body. It must have a very quiet voice. Some people seem to know when they ache in a certain location or when their body craves sustenance or rest. I've never had that ability."

Andy nodded, she could understand that. This was Miranda Priestly who had built up a career and the fashion industry by working herself to the bone for countless years. Of course she did't have time for the basic niceties of listening to her body. Andy had long since suspected that Miranda operated on a schedule more than on needs, twelve o'clock was lunch time and therefore Miranda would eat whether she was hungry or not.

"I understand," Andy said much to Miranda's surprise, "I can help you with that but you need to trust me, you need to communicate with me. Do you think you can do that? Help me to help you?"

Miranda considered this for a moment before giving a curt nod to her assistant, "yes, Andrea, I will endeavour to do so."

A week and a half later and the Runway offices were completely transformed. Emily was convinced that she had stumbled into some kind of alternative universe. Miranda seemed calmer and kinder but only in small doses, most of the time she was as harsh as ever but now and then she softened. She knew that Miranda had been rushed to hospital with a minor heart complaint, Andy had told her as much, but whoever came back from the hospital was not the Miranda she remembered.

And on top of that Andy was insufferably happy, more so than she was before. Even Miranda's foulest moods and requests didn't seem to put a dent in her smile. Emily suspected it was something to do with the doctor she had met at the hospital, according to Andy he was gorgeous.

Miranda was working in her office with the door closed and Andy and Emily were sat at their respective desks typing, so Emily decided to try to get some information out of the tall brunette, "so, did you call Doctor Dreamy yet?"

Andy laughed, "as a matter of fact, I did! We're having dinner tomorrow night."

Emily raised an eyebrow, "tomorrow? Don't appear too desperate Andy, you should wait at least a fortnight between a phone call and a first date."

With a roll of the eyes Andy disagreed, "I don't like playing those games, I'm interested in him and he is interested in me. Why waste time and play psychological games with each other?"

Emily sniffed, "whatever, don't blame me when it all blows up in your face..."

Andy was about to reply when the unmistakable sound of Miranda calling her name echoed through the office. Andy sprung to her feet and picked up a notepad and pen and strode into the office, closing the door behind her again.

"This contraption," Miranda indicated the heart monitoring watch that she had on her wrist, "how much longer am I expected to wear this crime against fashion for?"

"Another three weeks," Andy supplied without missing a beat, "that way you'll have enough data to show Michael and then he can decide on your future treatment plan."

Miranda huffed but lowered her wrist in defeat, she picked up her pen and continued to hand write notes but spoke again without looking at Andy, "so, it's Michael now, is it?"

Andy shook her head, "sorry, Doctor Stratford," she corrected.

"Did you call him?" Miranda asked as she caught Andy's eyes with hers over the top of her glasses.

"Yeah," Andy smiled happily, "we're going out tomorrow night."

Miranda sighed and looked back at her work and Andy suddenly had a thought and quickly added, "unless you don't want me to see your doctor? I suppose that might be awkward?"

"No, no," Miranda waved her free hand, "I just thought you had an agreement with the other one, what was he, a cook?"

Andy rolled her eyes at the word 'agreement' but nodded, "yeah, Nate was a chef, but we broke up a while ago. So I'm all free to see Michael, I mean, Doctor Stratford."

"I see," Miranda said a bored tone, "that's all."

With confusion Andy put the lid back on her pen and exited the office again.

"What did she want?" Emily whispered as Andy stepped outside.

"Nothing, I think, just being Miranda," Andy said honestly and she sat back at her desk.

Andy removed her keys from her open front door and pushed the door closed with her back, leaning on the door with a large smile on her face as she recalled the evening. Michael was lovely, probably the nicest guy she'd ever met and most of all he understood her. She had hesitated to talk about her job and working with Miranda but Michael totally understood. They'd talked about work ethic and career progression and loyalty and both of them were on the same page which was such a relief.

She turned around and locked the door before throwing her keys into the bowl beside the door. Hanging her coat and her bag on the coat stand she fished her mobile phone out of the coat pocket and glanced at the screen. She had one text message, from Michael.

She smiled as she opened it and read the sweet message saying that he'd had a wonderful time and how he couldn't wait to see her again on Friday, two days from then. Flopping on the sofa she stared at the message for a while longer with a goofy grin on her face. Then, not for the first time that evening, she wondered why she hadn't heard from Miranda that night. Not a text, an email or a call. Not unheard of but definitely unusual.

She scrolled through the applications on her phone until she saw one shaped like a heart and pressed her thumb to it. A graph popped up displaying Miranda's current heart rate as well as what it had been throughout the day. In order for the watch to record data she'd had to synch the watch to her phone and on occasion she found herself looking at her bosses heart rate to check everything was okay.

Currently Miranda's heart rate was high, not dangerously high but definitely not what she would have expected for a quiet evening at home. Andy scrolled along and noted that it had been that high for most of the evening starting when she'd left the office. Prior to that it had been fairly normal, there was a high peak around four o'clock when she'd had to scrap the front cover worth two hundred thousand dollars.

Out of curiosity Andy scrolled to the previous day and examined the data there too. There'd been a large spike around half past three in the afternoon, Andy thought back to the previous day but she couldn't place what would have gotten Miranda so riled up. She worked through the day and knew that Miranda had been sat in her office between half two and four with no meetings and very few calls. Andy pushed the thought to one side, assuming that Miranda had seen a particularly shocking hair clip that had caused a spike of adrenaline in her system.

Closing the application down and throwing the phone onto the empty chair besides her Andy decided to keep a little closer an eye on the data in the future just to ensure there is not a repeat of the previous events. Andy shivered a little at that chilling prospect and shook her head to rid herself of such negative thoughts.

The next morning Andy hurried into the office with the Starbucks order, Miranda's had been changed to an decaffeinated order, unbeknownst to the rest of the office who would have probably all instantly resigned at the prospect of an decaffeinated Miranda.

"You're late," Emily said without looking up from her screen, "and she is pissed," she continued with a point towards Miranda's closed door.

"The Starbucks downstairs was closed, they'd had a flood or something, I had to go all the way to..."

"Bore someone else with those details," Emily suggested and then looked up, "like Miranda. Who is awaiting her morning coffee."

Andy nodded and picked up Miranda's order from the tray and walked straight into the office, "I'm so sorry, Miranda," she began.

"Don't waste precious oxygen with whatever excuse is going to emerge from your lips next," Miranda said with a sigh and held her hand out for the cup that Andy held.

Andy quickly crossed the room and provided the older woman with the beverage, "sorry, Miranda," she muttered again.

Miranda took a sip of the drink before placing the cup on her desk, "at least it is hot, unpalatable but hot."

Of all of the dietary changes the lack of caffeine was the one that Miranda hated the most and she didn't shy from telling Andy frequently just how bad the coffee now tasted. Now and then Andy would allow Miranda real coffee but only occasionally and as a reward for a particularly trying day. Miranda knew that no amount of bullying would cause Andy to crumble in her resolve, she rewarded good behaviour only which was quite the opposite to how Miranda operated.

"Was everything okay with the book last night?" Andy questioned in a vague attempt to dig up some information on why she hadn't heard from Miranda all evening.

Miranda looked confused, "yes, why wouldn't it be?"

"Erm," Andy started, "well, just that Emily hasn't delivered the book for a while and, er, I just, well, wanted to make sure everything was ... okay."

Miranda removed her glasses and placed them on the desk delicately, "while Emily has indeed not delivered the book for a number of weeks she did manage that simple task. She had to ... as you were ... busy," Miranda hesitated to use the word.

Andy just stood there silently wondering how best to approach the subject again.

"I trust the change to my schedule was worthwhile?" Miranda queried though with seemingly very little interest.

"Oh yes," Andy gushed with a big smile, "thank you for letting me swap with Emily, the date was wonderful."

Miranda put her glasses back on, "I'm not sure he is right for you, Andrea."

Andy laughed, "a handsome cardiac doctor? My Dad will be doing cartwheels!"

With a slight cock of the head Miranda gave a slight nod, "that's all."

With a confused look Andy exited the office and noticed that Emily had distributed the other drinks and was sat at her desk. Andy walked to the closet and hung up her coat and then sat at her desk, shaking the mouse to wake it from it's sleep. She placed her mobile phone beside her keyboard and opened up the heart rate application again, she noted that Miranda's heart rate was still elevated and frowned.

"So," Emily said as she squinted to look at her screen. It was clear that the redhead needed glasses but she refused to acknowledge the fact, "how did it go last night?"

Andy typed her password in and smiled, "oh Em, it was great, he is amazing."

Emily smiled and leaned across the desk, "ooo, dish!"

Andy leaned forward too, "he took me to dinner at the White Shed, it was delicious and he was so nice and attentive. We talked about everything and it was great, we're so similar!"

"Well, well, well," Emily smirked, "better than a cook, I'll give you that, Andy Sachs. And certainly better for your waistline!"

Andy made a face, "ha ha. I know it's early days yet but I just can't find a thing wrong with him, he's like my perfect man!"

The flickering of Andy's screen drew her attention and she reached across to access her mouse to open her emails. As she did so she could see on the screen of her phone that Miranda's heart rate had increased in the last minute or so.

"So," Emily continued, "did you ... you know ..."

Andy didn't register the questions as she was too busy staring at small screen, again the heart rate spiked this time going much higher than it had before.

"Psst," Emily whispered through gritted teeth.

"What?" Andy said, distracted before finally realising what Emily had asked of her, "oh, oh! No! Of course not, no!"

Emily rolled her eyes and looked as if her interest had completely died at that, she returned her attention to her screen as Andy said, "will you deliver the book for me on Friday? I'm seeing him again, I'll do the schedules for the next two weeks..."

"Month," Emily said without looking up.

With a sigh Andy nodded, "okay, a month, fine," she looked back at the screen and was relieved to see that the heart rate readings were returning to normal.

Friday night didn't quite go to plan, just as Andy arrived home to get ready for the date Michael had rung her. He was full of apologies and said he had to work, they were short staffed and he had no option. Andy knew the feeling and said it was fine and that they'd rearrange for another time.

She'd considered going back to the office and relieving Emily of book duties but it was getting a little late so she decided against it. Instead she decided on having a night dedicated to herself, she'd ordered from her favourite Chinese restaurant, watched some television and was now relaxing in a hot bath and reading the final page of her book.

With a satisfied sigh she finished the book and tossed it towards the bedroom so it didn't get wet when she exited the bath. Closing her eyes and leaning her head back she stretched out and smiled. This was what real luxury was, time to unwind and do whatever you wanted, essential 'me time'.

Suddenly an electronic beeping broke the silence and Andy opened one eye and squinted around the room. She didn't recognise the noise but it didn't sound like a good noise, it wasn't the kind of beeping that was informing you that a batch of chocolate chip muffins were ready. It was a bad beeping, something that demanded immediate attention.

Andy got up from her bath and wrapped a nearby white towel around herself and quickly made her way into the bedroom where her phone was located. After a few seconds of moving clothes around on the bed she found her phone and sat on the corner of the bed. There was a notification on the screen from the heart rate application and the words 'beyond expected boundaries' were flashing on the screen.

Andy tried to swipe the screen but her fingers were still wet from the bath and she couldn't get it to register her. She frantically dried her finger on the towel wrapped around her body and tried again. This time the phone unlocked and the application sprung to life.

The application was showing that Miranda's heart rate was sky high through the roof and had been gradually getting higher and higher over the course of the last hour and fifteen minutes. The graph had turned red and clearly the speed of her heart rate and the duration had caused an inbuilt alert system to sound.

Andy pressed some buttons and within seconds she was calling Miranda's mobile phone, she pushed her wet hair from her face and put the phone to her ear. It continued to ring and ring and Andy stood up and started to pace across the floor of the bedroom. The call ticked over to voicemail and Andy terminated the call and tried again. She walked over to her land line telephone on her bedside table and started dialing Miranda's home number, she knew the girls were away and Miranda was due to be home alone that week.

With a dial tone ringing in each ear Andy began to look at the clothes on the bed to decide what would be the quickest outfit to put together and get across town in. The mobile phone again ticked over to voicemail and Andy hung up the call and tried again, this time she put the phone on speaker and placed it on the bedside table.

Then the house phone also went to voicemail so she redialled and put the land line on speaker as she hurried across the room to go through her chest of drawers to find some underwear. The sound of two dial tones ringing out filled the room and Andy threw the towel into the bathroom as she danced on one foot to put a sock on.

"What?!" the angry voice of Miranda filled the bedroom and Andy fell to the floor dressed in nothing but one sock.

"Miranda!" Andy shouted and crawled back to her feet and leapt across the bed to grab the land line phone that Miranda had answered. She hung up the mobile and shouted, "Miranda? Are you okay?"

Miranda was breathing heavily down the phone, "what?" she asked in shock, "what on earth do you want?"

Andy fumbled with the mobile phone and opened the application again, the heart rate had gone down from it's dangerously high level which was a relief but it was still high. Probably something to do with her shouting at Andy at that very moment.

It was then that Andy realised Miranda was breathing very heavily and sounded very tired, "are you okay? What's going on there?"

Miranda paused for a moment before replying, "why do you ask?" She sounded like she was panting for breath and her voice was husky.

"Your heart rate, it was through the roof," Andy answered, "are you okay?"

"My heart ... how on earth do you know my heart rate?" Miranda asked as her breathing started to return to normal.

"I had to synch the watch to my phone," Andy quickly explained, "to check it was working. It uploads data to an app in my phone. An alarm went off, your heart rate was sky high and has been for over an hour!"

Suddenly the application stopped showing data and a message displayed on the screen 'CONNECT MONITORING DEVICE'.

"Miranda? Did you take the watch off? Are you okay? What was happening? Do you need me to come over?" Andy panicked.

A deep sigh followed by a short pause was all that answered Andy until eventually Miranda spoke again, "yes I took the damn watch off, no I don't need you to come over. And as for what was happening," Miranda took a deep breath and lowered her voice to the iciest of tones to absolutely ensure the end of the conversation" it was personal. That's all."

Miranda hung up the phone and Andy pulled the device away from her ear in shock. She knitted her brow and considered for a moment the conversation and then it hit her and she blushed a furious shade of red and the phone dropped out of her hand and onto the carpeted floor.

The next morning and after a fitful night of sleep interspersed with inappropriate dreams Andy was just finishing getting ready for a day in the office. She locked her front door and placed a piece of toast in her mouth and started to hurriedly walk down the four flights of steps to street level.

She was thinking about what she would say to Miranda in the morning, she'd been thinking about it all night and all morning but she couldn't come up with anything. Thank goodness she would have the subway journey to come up with something reasonable. How does one approach that kind of conversation with your boss, especially when your boss is Miranda Priestly?

Andy opened the door to the building and stepped out into the street and her heart sank. Right there in front of her was a black towncar, with Roy standing by the rear passenger door with an apologetic look. She swallowed hard and walked towards him.

"Sorry, Andy," Roy whispered, "I didn't get a chance to warn you, she sprung it on me at last minute!"

With a nod Andy replied, "yeah, don't worry about it, Roy."

He opened the door for her and she stepped in and sat down beside Miranda who was looking at her emails on her phone and completely ignoring the new passenger. Roy got in the car and they began the long, traffic-filled journey to the Runway office. Ten minutes of complete silence had passed and Andy was really feeling the pressure as the tension built up and up in the car. The privacy glass was down and Roy would clearly be able to hear every word they said.

Eventually Andy couldn't take it any longer and turned to Miranda and softly whispered, "I'm sorry."

Miranda ignored the apology and continued looking at her emails in silence. Andy sighed and looked out of the passenger window in frustration. It seemed Miranda was determined to punish her for her actions.

"Accepted, I apologise for my reaction too," Miranda finally whispered in a voice so low that Andy almost missed it entirely.

With a smile Andy breathed a sigh of relief, she turned to face Miranda and ventured a glance towards Roy who looked like he was busy negotiating the rush hour traffic, "I'm sorry, I, er, interrupted your date..."

Miranda continued to look at her emails with interest, deleting begging requests from various designers after only reading one or two words, "no date, I was alone."

The smile was instantly gone from Andy's face and she thought Roy had turned the heat up in the car. Her cheeks flushed and she coughed to clear her throat, "oh! Right, I see, erm, I mean..."

Raising her voice only slightly Miranda continued, "Charlotte? Yes, I spoke with her about the new women's interests insert, we worked on layouts for an hour or so," she said convincingly, obviously trying to cover up Andy's reaction.

"Oh," Andy said, playing along, "I see."

Andy's mind was racing and she didn't know what to say next, "I hope, erm, it was successful."

Miranda snorted a laugh at that before adding, "no, it never got to print."

Andy coughed wildly and Miranda handed her an unopened glass bottle of water from the console besides her. The young woman gratefully took it and drank two huge gulps to clear her throat.

Silence fell in the car again and Andy's mind raced some more, for some reason she had to know why and eventually she said, "did the phone call from the finance director kill it?"

Miranda shook her head, "no, it was already on the rocks," she lifted her eyes from her emails and turned to look at Andy earnestly, "there were too many distractions for her, her mind was elsewhere I think."


	4. Chapter 4

**Note**: I just wanted to drop a quick note in to thank everyone for their kind feedback, it's been so nice to read all the comments and know that so many of you are reading and enjoying the story. After this there will be one more, final chapter.

A Boeing 737 during take-off, that was the kind of noise that Andy could hear pumping through her ears. Miranda was absolutely talking to her about this, in code but she was definitely openly acknowledging what had happened. She didn't seem particularly angry, if anything she was toying with Andy about the subject.

Andy could feel that her cheeks were hot with the blush that had started from the second she sat beside Miranda in the car and had gradually gotten worse and worse as the conversation progressed.

Something occurred to Andy and she looked at Miranda with an unsure expression, "erm, Miranda, will you, er, will you put the watch back on? So that we have the readings for the appointment…"

Miranda shook her arm to allow the sleeve of her cream Dior jacket to slide enough for Andy to see that she was indeed already wearing the heart monitor again.

Andy gave a pleased nod, "I'll make sure..."

"No," Miranda interrupted with a wag of the finger, "don't speak."

Andy closed her mouth quickly and looked away from the older woman. Clearly Miranda had decided that she didn't wish to speak any more which gave Andy cause to breath a silent sigh of relief.

~*~

By the afternoon the awkward morning had been long forgotten about in a haze of meetings, phone calls, scheduling nightmares and organising a reshoot for the front cover. Andy tried her best to ignore that they were all working on a Saturday and that this was the first time in history that Runway had been so close to print without actually having a front cover decided upon.

In between all of that Andy had taken a call from Michael about rescheduling their cancelled date. They'd had a disagreement when Michael tried to encourage Andy to blow off working at the weekend. When Andy had retorted that he was working on a Friday night Michael had made a comment that annoyed Andy. It was true that Michael was a doctor and people's lives were at stake but that didn't mean she should be less dedicated to her job just because she wasn't a doctor.

Towards the end of the long Saturday at work Emily and Andy were sat at their respective desks working on the schedule for London fashion week that was coming up. Miranda was in her office with the door closed looking over the new front page photography proofs.

Miranda's mood was in freefall since they stepped foot in the office that morning, she'd fired two people before lunch so Andy had decided to keep an eye on the Editor and had the heart rate application open while she sat at her desk.

"So, how was the date?" Emily asked casually.

"Didn't happen," Andy said without looking up from her screen.

Emily looked over at her, "then why did I take the book last night?"

Andy huffed, "we were meant to meet up but he cancelled at last minute because he had to work."

"Ah," the English woman nodded, "you're still doing the schedule for the next four weeks, Andrea."

"Yes, I know," Andy confirmed quietly.

"Seeing him again?" Emily pushed, she was fascinated by anyone else's love life as she claimed that she had no time for one herself.

"Not sure," Andy admitted, "we had an argument."

"Bloody hell, already?" Emily asked.

"Yeah, I thought we were on the same page about some things but it seems we're not..." Andy shrugged.

"Dump him," Emily advised harshly.

Andy looked up with a laugh, "whoa there!"

Emily leaned across the desk with a serious expression, "trust your gut instinct, if he has already shown you that he doesn't agree with you on important topics then why waste any more of your time? Unless you want to do the schedules forever?"

Andy thought about this for a moment, "you may be right..."

"I am," Emily stated as she looked back at her screen.

Andy chewed her bottom lip as she considered what Emily had said, she glanced down at her phone and saw that Miranda's heart rate had gone down during the last few minutes. Andy smiled, the front page was clearly back on track if Miranda was practically relaxed.

"Emily..." Miranda called softly from her office causing Emily to jump up and walk into the office.

Andy plugged her phone into her computer to download the data she had so far. She knew she had to cut the readings from the previous night out of the log and to just tell Michael that Miranda just took the watch off for the evening.

As the data was being compiled Emily exited Miranda's office at high speed, "Oh my God! The proofs are all useless, Miranda is furious! We need to get the design and editorial team together immediately, it's going to be a late night!" Emily grabbed her phone and called Nigel and started explaining the situation to him.

With a frown Andy looked again at the heart rate readings to see that Miranda was perfectly calm, certainly calmer than she had been for the last few days. Andy looked at the data downloading on her screen and, as she began to come to a realisation, her mouth involuntarily dropped open.

Emily slammed the phone down, "right, the meeting is set for thirty minutes so we need to cancel Monday morning, Christ I suppose this means we'll be working Sunday as well? I'll email you over the details for Mario's new studio so you can move Miranda's appointment to the afternoon."

"No problem," Andy said with a thoughtful look as she held her phone up and stared intently at the screen, "you know, I don't think I should throw away a potential relationship with Michael. He's really amazing, maybe I was just being overly sensitive because I was stressed..."

While Emily clicked around her desktop she cocked her head to one side as she gave it consideration, "well, if he is as handsome as you say then you might want to keep him around for arm candy?"

Andy grinned as she watched Miranda's heart rate slowly climbing and she decided to up the ante, "true, or for something more," she laughed and winked at Emily.

Emily tried to look shocked but it just turned into a large grin, "Andy Sachs!" Then, with a laugh and a wink, "however, winter is coming soon and you'll want a warm bed!"

The girls shared a laugh as Emily sent emails and Andy watched Miranda's heart rate reaching new heights. Andy felt her own heart rate surge and that familiar childhood feeling of butterflies in her stomach.

"Andy!" Emily raised her voice, it was obvious that she had been trying to get her attention for some time. Andy apologised and shook the thoughts from her head and got back to work, dealing with whatever this was would have to wait until later.

~*~

Doug stared at Andy. Much in the same way he had been doing for the last two full minutes since she finished telling him about the events of the last few days. They were sat on the sofa in Andy's apartment, facing each other with a half-eaten pizza between them which had been pretty much abandoned since Andy started sharing her story.

"So, wanna help me out here?" Andy said eventually.

Doug looked away and then back to Andy again with the same confused expression, "err, well..."

"To think I wasted pizza on you for that," Andy sighed and flopped back onto the sofa and hugged a pillow to her chest.

Doug blinked a few times and shook his head to snap out of his trance, "right, okay, let's think about this..."

"That's what I've been doing all afternoon, thinking about this," Andy mumbled sadly.

"Miranda is clearly reacting to you dating, you said that she said she didn't think he was good enough for you, right?"

Andy rested her head on the pillow and looked up at Doug with a small nod.

"Well, she either wants to control who you are dating because she feels protective of you or ... she's hot for you!"

Andy's head snapped up, "Doug!"

"What? You wanted my honest advice and that was it," Doug said as he looked at the pizza box between them, "and now I'm going to reward myself with another slice of this."

"It can't be that, it's Miranda for God's sake, I mean I can see that she'd be protective of me but ... no, she can't feel things for me. Can she? I mean, why would she?" Andy questioned as she looked at her friend for support.

"She spoke about some pretty personal stuff, maybe she was trying to drop a few hints?" Doug said before he took a bite of pizza.

"No, well, no," Andy stuttered, "b-but, no."

"And you want to be a writer," Doug said between mouthfuls.

"Shut up," Andy said as she swiped gently at his arm, "do you honestly think Miranda ... well, you know ... what would you call it? Likes me?"

Doug shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know Andy, what was she like this afternoon, after you said you'd keep Doctor Dashing around?"

Andy shrugged, "normal Miranda, she didn't say much but that's not unusual for her."

Doug nodded, "I think you need to decide what you want and then make a decision on what you're going to do from there."

Andy looked up at him with huge deer-in-headlights eyes, "what I want?"

With a smile Doug patted Andy on the shoulder, "Sweetie, you've gotta decide if you want Miranda. Do you want a relationship with a woman? Are you attracted to her?"

The brunette shot to her feet and started pacing the small living room, "I don't know!"

"Well, think about it," Doug said as he watched her pace, "do you care for her? Do you think she's attractive? Does she make your heart beat faster? Can you imagine not seeing her again?"

After a few moments considering those questions Andy stopped pacing and looked up through the window and into the darkness of the city, "holy crap, I'm attracted to Miranda."

Doug clapped his hands and jumped up to hug her, "yay! This is so exciting!"

Andy smiled a genuine though terrified smile, "oh my God, I like Miranda, like-like Miranda, oh my God ... what now?"

Doug beamed with happiness as he unhelpfully answered, "I have no idea."

~*~

Working on a Sunday was never ideal though Andy had done it several times during her time at Runway. It was just typical that the day Andy really wanted to work on a Sunday, well, not work but see Miranda, she didn't have to. It had looked so certain that Sunday would be a normal work day for Runway staff with the front cover being missing in action but during the late night meeting on Saturday Nigel had managed to come up with an option that had saved the day. Nigel would enjoy something of a hero status from everyone for the next few weeks as a result, everyone except Andy.

Andy would have given anything to have been at work on this particular Sunday, having just come to the most earth shattering conclusion about herself she was keen to see if she was right about Miranda's feelings for her. Were they strictly platonic? Were they created out of some kind of maternal caring? Did she simply not want Andy to be happy? Or unavailable to her every whim? Was Miranda so stressed about Andy being in a relationship simply because she didn't want to lose her assistant?

With hardly any sleep during Saturday night Andy would have happily worked on Sunday just for the opportunity to walk straight into Miranda's office and ask her outright. It's funny, in a cruel way, how courage can come at the strangest of times but be completely non-existent when required most.

Sunday would not be a day for work, nor a day for answers. Instead it turned into a soul-searching day where Andy really took stock of her life, her thoughts, feelings, decisions and desires. She'd never before considered a relationship with a woman but now she gave the prospect some real thought she found that she was intrigued and excited by the idea.

Just after lunch her mobile rang as a call from Emily came in and Andy answered it in a flash, hoping for a Runway disaster to summon her to the office.

"Emily!" Andy said with excitement.

"Oh. My. God," Emily exclaimed, "it's happened, it's finally happened! It's going to be pure hell for you of course but for me it's about damn time!"

Andy frowned, "what are you talking about?"

"Well," Emily said as if she were explaining something to a child, "Miranda called me to the town house today for brunch..."

A flash of jealousy spread through Andy's body and she clenched her fist a little at the thought of Miranda and Emily sharing a meal in Miranda's home but she quickly fought down the feeling to hear the rest of what Emily was saying.

"... so, naturally, I said yes! Paris, can you imagine? I'll be living in Paris! Finally she's acknowledged my natural fashion eye. I leave tomorrow! Which means you'll be first assistant, and second assistant, until you find a new you, which will be hell!"

Andy's mouth opened and closed with this new information but eventually she came to her senses enough to congratulate the Brit, "well done, Em! You've really worked for it, you totally deserve it."

"Damn right I do," Emily sniffed haughtily, "I don't know where I'm going to find the time to pack."

Andy smiled, "you'll be fine, you've worked for Miranda Priestly, you can do anything!"

Emily laughed, "good luck, Andy, I'll email you my new contact details once I get to Runway Paris!"

The redhead ended the call and Andy smiled as she put the phone down on the coffee table. This meant a promotion, more money and the prestige of being Miranda's first assistant. While she would obviously miss Emily, Andy couldn't help but be excited even if she still was a little jealous of the Sunday brunch at the town house.

Sunday seemed to drag on and on like no Sunday before ever had, every other Sunday had been gone in a second and the horrible spectre of a Monday morning loomed far too quickly. But this Sunday, this awful, interrupting Sunday seemed to linger. Andy spent the day cleaning her apartment, preparing her outfits for the week, writing articles, researching famous lesbians, preparing the second assistant job description for HR, fixing the loose door handle on the bedroom, Googling lesbian sex, clearing her Internet history and baking a loaf of bread, to kill time.

By the time Monday came around Andy was ready, she was wearing the Chanel boots that Miranda had spent a little too long staring at one morning with a skirt that was probably only just the right side of decent. She paired the look with a crisp white shirt with a plunge V-neck that showed some cleavage and a dark tweed jacket that brought the whole thing together into a professional outfit.

She'd gotten in early and noticed that Emily had been in and cleared her desk over the weekend. Getting an early start on her, now doubled, workload she set about sorting out the schedule, the multiple diaries, the call backs, the invitations, the gala dinner, the correspondence, the advertising schedule and of, course, all the preparation for London fashion week.

A text from Roy advised her that he had just picked Miranda up from the town house and she quickly left the office to go to Starbucks to get the morning coffees. She spoke to the usual Barista and got fast tracked and was back in no time and quickly distributed the beverages before placing the last drink on Miranda's desk along with the freshly opened water and a selection of magazines.

In the seconds before Miranda's arrival Andy stood in Miranda's office and took a deep breath, she was satisfied that she was handling this first assistant business very well so far, in fact if she were honest she found things a bit easier without Emily fussing all over the place.

"Andrea," a silky voice spoke from behind her and Andy spun around to see the Editor strutting into her office having just deposited her coat and bag on Andy's desk.

Andy made a move to go and hang the coat as Miranda walked around her desk and took her chair, "leave that, I have important news."

With a smile Andy turned around and looked at Miranda, "Emily has been promoted?"

"No, Andrea, I said I have important news, why would Emily's promotion be of interest to you?" Miranda queried as she took her glasses out of their protective pouch and started to clean them with a soft cloth.

"Because it means I'm the first assistant?" Andy queried, unsure why Miranda would not have thought Andy would be interested in that fact.

"But you don't want to be first assistant, you want to be a writer," Miranda sighed softly as she put her glasses on and started thumbing through the top magazine.

"Well, yes, but, obviously I'm happy to..."

"No, no," Miranda waggled her finger, "you're not. Which brings me to the good news."

Andy stood rooted to the spot, a cold feeling had washed over her as she could feel something had changed in the air and she knew that this supposed good news would not be so.

"When you call HR to find a new second assistant, you can also get them to look for a new first assistant. Congratulations Andrea, you're time is up, I'll give you a glowing reference and you will find work at any publication you desire," Miranda said without looking up from the magazines.

Andy couldn't speak, she just stood there with her mouth open staring blankly at Miranda as if her whole world had fallen apart. She finally got herself together enough to reply but she ended up just making some random noises, "b-but, but, I ... I'm ..."

Without looking up Miranda sighed, "I was under the impression that writers could string together a simple sentence."

"Miranda, I ..."

"That's all," Miranda said calmly.

"Miranda, I really need ..." Andy tried again.

"I said, that's all," Miranda said with a glare that stopped Andy in her tracks and sent her running for the outer office. Andy raced to her desk and picked up the thick winter coat the older woman had thrown there, she could feel the warmth and smell the heavenly scent of the Editor's perfume. Miranda clearly didn't care about her, didn't love her but Andy didn't know if she could turn her own feelings off so easily.


	5. Chapter 5

**Note**:

I just wanted to sincerely thank everyone who took the time to post comments or get in touch with me personally, I really appreciate the kind words and the constructive criticisms. This was my first completed Miranda story but now I feel like I have the bug and may well write more. But for now, here is the final part of Matters of the Heart - I hope you all enjoy!

* * *

Andy sat at her desk in silence while trying to fight the tears that threatened to fall down her face. She couldn't believe what had just happened, Miranda was firing her. Well, not exactly firing her but definitely getting rid of her. Andy damned her nerves, she wished she could have fought harder to make Miranda understand she wanted to stay.

But with a soft 'that's all' and a hard glare Miranda had exiled Andy from her office. And her life. Andy played the last few weeks back in her mind desperately looking for what she did wrong, how had she sealed her own fate? Everything had seemed to be going so well between them, Miranda had finally lowered the barriers and let Andy in. They weren't quite braiding each other's hair whilst discussing the previous night's television but they were close considering one of them was Miranda Priestly.

Andy thought back to Saturday night with Doug, had she misread all the signals? Had she seen signs where there were none? Had she developed feelings, real feelings or was she just so confused by the whole thing? Andy shook her head with a smile, it was all irrelevant now, she was gone, out of Miranda's life. Miranda socialised with people outside the office but certainly not the likes of Andy Sachs.

Suddenly Miranda was stood in front of Andy's desk and asked softly, "have you called HR yet?"

Andy swallowed hard and shook her head in the negative.

"Do it now," Miranda ordered before gliding out of the office towards the art department.

The tears started to fall as Andy reached a trembling hand towards the phone and made the call.

* * *

Two weeks had gone by since the day Miranda announced Andy's promotion. Two long weeks full of the work of two assistants and the interviewing of some of the most unsuitable candidates Andy had ever seen in her life. Human resources must have been splitting their sides with laughter considering the rubbish they were sending Andy to pre-interview.

A law graduate, a fashion journalist from Australia, Wintour's old assistant, a Presidential secretary, wherever did they find this rubbish? Andy was listening to the last of a long line of candidates talk about her so-called fashion experience.

"So then I was with the models for London fashion week and I had to put together the schedule for the six shows, including the guest lists," the young blonde smiled, "I like to be busy!"

"Hmm," Andy said as she glanced at the resume. Fashion graduate, travelled to all the major shows, daughter of a major European publisher, had worked or interned in most fashion magazines. Andy sighed and looked at the young girl, "I'm just not sure you're right for this job, why do you think you are right for this job?"

The blonde seemed to struggle and pointed to her resume, "well as you can see I have spent the last six months working for Rupert Murdoch as one of his assistants and I have been organising his diary and travel plans as well as fielding calls, taking messages and being his principle assistant when he is working weekends, which is most of them."

Andy sighed and thanked the girl for coming in and said she'd let her know. After seeing the unsuitable candidate out of the building she returned to her desk but as she sat down she heard Miranda call her name. Standing up again Andy trudged into the office and stood to attention in front of Miranda's desk with a pen and pad in her hands.

"Yes, Miranda?"

"How did the interviews go?" Miranda put her pen down and looked up at the brunette with interest.

"They are all useless, I think HR are joking half the time," Andy sighed.

Miranda cocked her head to one side and indicated her screen, "what about Obama's secretary?"

Andy laughed, "total attitude problem."

Miranda looked surprised, "the fashion journalist then?"

"She might have been a fashion journalist, in the 1920s," Andy added.

Miranda sighed and turned back to look at Andy, "Andrea, I want a second assistant sitting at that desk by tomorrow morning. Either you find one or I will."

Andy opened her mouth to speak but was cut off with Miranda's trademark, "that's all."

* * *

The next morning Andy was interviewing what even HR had referred to as the bottom of the barrel and she could see why. So far the one with the two lazy eyes seemed the most promising from the bunch. Currently Andy was interviewing an overly bubbly twenty year old who had dropped out of high school to become an ear model. As she spoke Andy briefly wondered if it was too late to call the fashion graduate back.

"And then it was, like, so funny! But I was also so fired but, ya know, you live you learn right?" the hapless interviewer laughed as she chewed her gum.

"Look," Andy said as she looked down to consult the half page resume which was hand written, "Missy, I'm really sorry but..."

"You're hired," Miranda said as she strode into the meeting room where they were interviewing, "you shall be known as Emily. Andrea, I need six skirts from that store I saw yesterday."

Missy looked pleased enough to burst and Andy looked utterly terrified, "erm, Miranda, I really need to talk to you."

Miranda was busy looking Missy up and down, analysing her like a supermarket checkout reads a barcode.

"By ten o'clock, Andrea," Miranda said before walking out of the meeting room again. Andy looked at the retreating figure with an open mouth before being interrupted by Missy, "wow, we're gonna be working together, that's like, so cool! We're gonna be best friends!"

* * *

Two days later and Miranda was practically completely ignoring Andy, instead she was feeding everything through Missy who was just as useless as Andy knew she would be. But Miranda didn't seem to notice, or care.

Andy was becoming more and more infuriated, she didn't know what she had done wrong and Miranda had no intention of explaining herself. Luckily today was the day they were going to see Michael for Miranda's check-up. Andy had printed out all of the heart monitor data and was counting down the time until the two of them would be alone in the car on the way to the hospital. Then, Andy had decided, she was going to confront the older woman and find out what was happening.

"Emily..."

Missy jumped up and entered the office. Credit where it was due, Missy had taken to being called Emily like a duck takes to water. Although Andy surmised that that was mainly because Missy's memory was so bad she probably didn't actually know her name anyway.

A few moments later Missy reappeared and looked at Andy, "apparently you have some graphs for her to take to an appointment?"

With a sigh Andy stood up and pointed at Missy's desk, "go and sit down, I'll deal with this."

Missy raised her eyebrows and turned on her heel as she returned to her desk. Andy took a deep, cleansing breath and picked up the folder and walked into Miranda's office, ready to confront the Editor.

"Ah, there it is," Miranda met Andy at the doorway and plucked the folder out of Andy's hands.

She glided past Andy and into the waiting coat that Missy held open for her.

"But, don't you want me to come along?" Andy asked in panic.

Miranda looked perplexed, "why would you do that?"

Andy looked from a confused Missy to a perplexed Miranda and felt so small and insignificant, as she tried to form a sentence Miranda spoke again, "get back to the interviews, Andrea, I would like a new first assistant by the end of the week."

Miranda held her arm out and smiled in satisfaction as Missy placed her handbag on her arm, with a brief nod to Missy she left the office.

* * *

Miranda was gone for two and a half hours which, quite coincidentally, was the exact amount of time it took Andy to get into the most foul mood she had ever been in. After Miranda had left Andy had excused herself through fear that she may just punch Missy in the face if she had to look at her for another second.

She went into the bathroom and angrily splashed water onto her red face to try to clear the tears, tears that she had decided Miranda was definitely not worthy of. She mentally berated herself for ever thinking that Miranda could actually have feelings, of any kind, never mind for her. She had stood and stared at herself in the mirror, red eyes, make up washed from her cheeks, hair all over the place, she looked a mess. She wondered where the Andy who came to New York two years ago had gone, that Andy was strong, kind, happy-go-lucky and stress-free.

Andy had no idea how she had managed to get herself fired and so permanently scribed into Miranda's bad books, books as she imagined Miranda would be the woman to have volumes. She hadn't done anything wrong and now she was being treated like dirt, asked to leave as soon as possible, if not sooner thank you very much.

A smile crept across her face, she'd practically been fired, Miranda hated her, what did she have to lose? Andy waltzed out of the bathroom and went to Starbucks for lunch, she had the biggest, fattest caramel based drink she could have and, yes, she had cream, extra cream because of the sweet smile she had given the Barista. Then she had a Panini, with cheese, lots of cheese. Who cared? She didn't need to watch her weight anymore and she was no longer in fear that Miranda would somehow smell the illicit food stuffs on her breath.

After that she took a stroll around New York, ignoring the endless calls from Missy and Nigel, they could wait. Eventually she went back to the Elias Clark building and strolled into the office like nothing had happened and tossed her coat haphazardly on the back of her chair and flopped down.

Missy had stared at her with wide-open eyes, clearly thinking that Andy had cracked to have been missing for the last three and a half hours. Missy opened her mouth to speak but clearly didn't know what to say as nothing came out.

"Andrea," Miranda's voice drifted from the inner office.

Andy ignored it and picked up her mobile and started texting Doug to arrange drinks for that evening.

"Andrea," Miranda tried again, ever so slightly louder. Missy stared at Andy in shock and informed her that Miranda had called her. Twice.

"Yeah," Andy answered, she was so far beyond caring now, what would Miranda do, fire her?

"Emily," Miranda changed tactic and Missy jumped up from her seat and ran into the inner office only to return a few moments later to tell Andy that Miranda wanted to see her.

"'K," Andy answered noncommittally while she carried on texting.

Then Miranda's scent filled the room as the Editor stood in the doorway and glared at Andy, "in my office, right now," she said coldly.

Miranda had turned around and started to walk back into her office when Andy casually questioned, "why?"

Miranda spun on her heel and stalked back to the door in shock, "Andrea," she started but paused while she considered how best to approach this strange and entirely new social development, "please?"

Andy sighed and threw her phone down on the table and stood up, walking into Miranda's office like a petulant child. She was surprised when Miranda stood by the door and gestured for Andy to take a seat on the sofa in the corner of the room. Miranda closed the door and once Andy was sat down she sat beside her.

"Andrea," Miranda started softly, "where were you? We were worried..."

"Out," Andy said casually.

Miranda's brows knitted together in confusion, "has something happened?"

Andy stared at Miranda, "ya think?"

Miranda placed her hands in her lap and quietly waited for Andy to continue and eventually Andy sighed and asked, "I suppose I'm just a little ... confused ... as to why the hell I'm being punished?"

"Punished?" Miranda asked in puzzlement.

"Yeah, punished," Andy spat back, her eyes ablaze.

"Who on earth is punishing you?" Miranda asked in a quiet but deadly tone.

Andy snapped, "you! You're punishing me!"

Miranda recoiled at the brunette's loud tone, "me?"

With a roll of the eyes Andy laughed, "God, you're impossible, yes, you. You're firing me, remember? For nothing, for no reason, no explanation but you're getting rid of me."

Miranda frowned as if it was all going completely over her head, "I'm not firing you, Andrea, I'm promoting you."

With open mouth Andy gaped at the Editor as if she were claiming that fire was cold and the sky red, "no, you're forcing me out of my job as quickly as you possibly can. You hired a second assistant with the brain of a potato chip to replace me and get me out of here quicker!"

Miranda tried to speak but Andy was on a role as she continued, "and you won't even tell me what I've done wrong. Hell, you won't even talk to me. I thought we were, I don't know, closer, and then you throw it all in my face and you won't explain why."

A rogue tear dropped from Andy's left eye and the Editor instinctively reached a soft hand up to wipe it from Andy's cheek, perhaps lingering a little longer than was strictly necessary.

"I'm afraid I have messed it all up," Miranda whispered as she turned slightly to look out of the window of the office, obscuring her face from Andy.

"What, what do you mean?" Andy asked.

Miranda stood up and walked over to the window so Andy couldn't see her face at all, she folded her arms and thought for a few moments before she finally spoke again, "I'm not very good at conveying my emotions. Sometimes even to myself. It's been said in the past that even I don't know what I want as I can be so ... guarded in my emotions.

"You're right, of course, you usually are. We had gotten closer, I trusted you with my heart, literally. And it was wonderful, having you in my life, trusting you, confiding in you. And then I had this... terrible, awful … pain in my chest. In my heart. At the very thought of you with anyone else," Miranda turned around to face Andy, she still had her arms folded across her chest in a defensive pose.

"I've never felt so close to someone, none of my previous relationships felt that way. I wanted to ... explore it further, I didn't want to pressure you into something. To feel that you had to do ... anything in order to stay in employment. It would be impossible to explore any further while you remained my assistant. So I made the decision to promote you and then, hopefully, pursue a relationship. If, of course, you had any interest whatsoever in being with a foolish old woman," Miranda sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose with her thumb and forefinger.

"I was adamant that you didn't come to the appointment with me today in case you and that awful man struck up a reconciliation before I'd had a chance to at least speak with you," Miranda finished and sighed a deep sigh.

Andy just stared at Miranda. No words could come out. She had never been so utterly shell shocked in her life. Miranda stared back and eventually broke the long silence, "Andrea, do you have anything to say?"

Suddenly she came to her senses, "yes, yes, I'm sorry, yes, Miranda..."

Miranda rolled her eyes and Andy smiled, there was the Miranda she knew and ... loved?

"Maybe you would like to elaborate? At your own pace, of course," Miranda said.

Andy stood up and walked over to stand beside the Editor and smiled a full, happy smile, "nothing would make me happier than exploring a relationship with you, I have been thinking the same thing. But we seriously need to work on your communication skills because I had no idea that was your plan, I thought you'd..."

Miranda waved the rest of the sentence away, "yes, yes, I gathered what you thought. But, to clarify, you... you feel the same way?"

The slight stumble in the usually confident speech made Andy's heart melt and she nodded at the uncertainty in Miranda's voice. And then Miranda smiled, not the forced smile of a gala, not the terrifying baring of teeth to frighten a new designer, a genuine smile.

"I think you should hire the fashion graduate, her name is Emily already and she's going to be so much better than I ever was," Andy said with a shy smile.

Miranda nodded, "I want her here this afternoon."

Andy looked surprised, "er, I'll try, I'll call her straight away."

"Get her here this afternoon, so I can fire you for your insubordination this afternoon and then you can come to dinner at the house this evening."

With the weight of the world lifted Andy smiled and nodded, she turned to leave the room but as she got to the door she paused and turned her head to face the Editor who was returning to her office chair.

"I was very insubordinate this afternoon, you may well have to punish me a little," she winked and left the office with a satisfied smirk that she had made the older woman blush and reach for a glass of cold water.

THE END


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